1.) What is visual configuration?
Visual configuration enables customers, sales reps, and users to customize products online or in real life by using your CAD models to generate 2D and 3D product visualizations. The tool helps manufacturers offer a level of product customization that is nearly unimaginable without it.
Visual Configurators enable the customization of any manufactured products and digitally represent them across the customer journey, from discovery through repeat sales.
2.) What are the types of visual configurations (2D vs 3D)?
Visual configuration tools are categorized into two main types: static 2D and interactive 3D.
Static 2D Visual Configuration
Static 2D visual configuration tools provide a two-dimensional representation of products, typically using images, drawings, or CAD designs. These tools offer a simple way to visualize products and make basic customizations, such as selecting dimensions, colors, or other customizations. However, they need the interactivity and photo-realism of 3D visual configuration tools.
Interactive 3D Visual Configuration
Interactive 3D visual configuration tools provide a real-time, 360-degree view of products, allowing users to interact with them in a more immersive and realistic way. These tools enable users to explore products from different angles, rotate them, zoom in and out, explode the product, and experiment with different configurations. Interactive 3D visual configuration is particularly valuable for complex products requiring detailed customization or for products with crucial visual appearance.
3.) What is visual configurator software?
Visual configuration software, also known as visual or 3D product configurators, allows users to create and customize products using 2D or interactive 3D visualizations. The innovative software solutions enable users to customize and configure complex products using an intuitive and user-friendly interface.
Visual product configurators provide users with photo-realistic digital representations of a configured product, such as a car or other customized products. Users can interact with this representation to change the product’s appearance, features, and options. For example, a customer might use a visual product configurator to choose a car’s color, wheels, and interior or to customize a product for a specific use case.
As users make changes to product configurations, visual configurators dynamically update the product view, providing real-time feedback that allows users to visualize the impact of their choices and make adjustments as needed, ensuring that the final product meets their exact specifications.
4.) What are the benefits of visual configuration software?
Visual configuration benefits users and end customers while helping the manufacturer increase revenue and improve customer experience.
For Manufacturers:
Increased Sales: By providing a personalized product customization experience, visual product configurators can encourage customers to confirm, buy faster, and increase order revenue.
Reduced Product Returns and Reworks: Customers are less likely to return products or require reworks if they have configured the product and can see exactly what they are ordering before making a purchase. For complex industrial manufacturing, the visual representation often represents a specific product that may not exist and provides clarity for the buyer.
Valuable Customer Insights: Visual product configurators track user interactions and preferences, providing businesses with useful insights for product development and marketing campaigns. They improve the end user’s experience by offering AI-driven recommendations on configurations and add-on products and services.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Visual Configurators contribute to a personalized and satisfying customer experience, fostering customer trust and brand advocacy. You will improve customer satisfaction by removing barriers to buying custom-configured products.
For Customers:
Personalized Products: Visual Product Configurations empower customers to create products tailored to their unique needs, preferences, and use cases.
Immersive Product Exploration: 3D visual configuration allows customers to examine products in detail, from various angles, and in different environments, ensuring informed purchasing decisions. It truly delivers a B2C-like experience for configured products.
Reduced Risk of Errors: The real-time visualization provided by visual configurators helps to reduce the risk of errors or misconfigurations due to the rule engine prohibiting users from configuring an unbuildable product while offering a visual representation.
Increased Confidence in Purchases: Customers feel more confident when they can visualize the final product before purchasing.
5.) What are the key features to look for in a visual configurator?
Visual product configurations revolutionize how manufacturers interact with their customers, enabling them to personalize complex product configurations easily.
Choosing the right partner for Visual Configuration is crucial to ensure a successful implementation and maximize the benefits of your new technology.
Here are some key features to consider when selecting a visual configurator:
Experience in your manufacturing industry
Choose a partner with a proven track record in your manufacturing sector with visual configuration expertise. Experienced providers provide valuable guidance and support throughout the implementation process, ensuring a smooth transition to a visual configuration selling model.
User-focused approach to the product design
Consider your backend and front-end user experience. Visual product configurators must be easy to set up and administer on the back end with a sleek-intuitive user interface on the front end. Visual configurators extend your configuration process to sales reps, partners, distributors, and end customers, making it vital to ensure the user interface is flexible and intuitive.
Seamless Integration
Prioritize visual configurator solutions that integrate seamlessly with your existing systems and workflows, eliminating the need for third-party software from multiple vendors. Seamless integration ensures a streamlined process and minimizes disruption to your business operations. Key considerations for integration prioritizations are your CRM, ERP, PIM, CAD, website, and ecommerce solutions.
By carefully evaluating these factors, you can make an informed decision and choose the right visual configuration partner to simplify product customization, enhance customer experience, and drive business growth.
CDS Visual makes visual configuration easy for manufacturers.
CDS Visual’s 3D product configurator and product visualization software are designed for the manufacturing industry, enabling companies to streamline their product design process. With CDS Visual, manufacturers can provide their clients with exceptional product visualization tools that simplify the buying process and enhance the overall customer experience.
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