As technology progresses and online shopping popularity grows, furniture retailers have to constantly assess their marketing and e-commerce strategies to keep up with the ever changing digital age. The question seems to be: will retailers fall behind if they don’t offer an online product configurator? In short, yes. It’s quickly becoming the global expectation. 3D product configurators aren’t new, they’ve been around for a few years, with IKEA launching their 3D & AR platforms back in 2017, but it’s only now that the rest of the online world seems to be catching up.
61%
of customers prefer to shop at stores that offer AR
40%
of customers are willing to pay more for a product if they can experience AR
71%
of customers would return to a retailer more often if they offered AR
When comparing the necessary imagery from a few years ago to now, it’s clear that customers want to see and experience a lot more than a single product shot in one fabric. If you don’t offer every gadget, every image, every combination as a visual on your website, you will lose sales. When shopping for clothes, if you could only see a visual of a shirt in one colour, but you wanted to see what the other options were, and couldn’t, you’d shop elsewhere wouldn’t you? It’s no different with furniture! The proof is in the pudding, the popularity of online shopping isn’t going anywhere. With customers being able to make large purchases online from home or on the go, online orders have kept many businesses afloat. Dunelm released that in 2021 they had a +26% growth in sales, despite stores being closed for over a third of the year. John Lewis saw incredible sales growth in the first half of 2021, with 75% of sales being made online. So what makes retailers stand out from one another when it comes to the online realm? Assets and having more to offer. We've been working on our own 3D product customiser for several months. Envision, has an array of features to help boost sales and increase engagement. We work closely with many of our clients and the one thing many of them were missing was a 3D customiser. With e-commerce becoming increasingly competitive, if you aren't offering the necessary assets, you're risking losing sales and customers.
66%
higher conversion rates than those using still images
80%
reduced return rates
11x
more likely to purchase a product if viewing in 3D
Key Retailer Benefits
Both retailers and manufacturers can benefit from using 3D product customisers. However, retailers specifically can benefit heavily from using the plug-in for the following reasons:
- Offer an upgraded shopping experience
- Increase in sales
- Return rates reduced
- Increase in new/ returning customers
- Better ability to manage customer expectations
Offer Shoppers Endless Customisation
Bring a personalised and interactive shopping experience to your customers with the ability to customise an array of features. Customers feel more involved in the design process if they are able to customise:
- Material choices
- Add in different components to create custom configurations
- Engraving
- Custom colours/ custom artwork
Big Benefits, Small Costs
With the ability to use pre-built 3D products that have been signed off by manufacturers, retailers are able to access these incredible assets for a reduced cost in comparison to building them from scratch. With the ability to up engagement and sales, the list of pros continues:
- Get ahead of competitors
- Allow customers to feel more involved in the design process
- Increase your profit margins (if wanting to charge more for personalised products)
- User friendly and fun for customers
- Earn better customer-business relationships