Does a configurator solve all my problems?

Author: Andreas Fidler

We want to be honest right up front - the sole introduction of a configurator will not solve all problems. Whether in e-commerce or as sales support, many factors must be taken into account to be successful.

After this article you will be able to recognize which problems a configurator can solve in your company and which not. Thus, you will not be disappointed, you will not make wrong decisions and you will not waste your valuable time and money. On the contrary, you already take measures in advance to achieve the desired goals or the maximum success.
 

Goals of a configurator

In most cases, a configurator is introduced if one or more of the listed goals and the problems behind them are to be achieved or solved:

• More website visitors
• Differentiation from competitors
• Better product presentation and explanation
• More inquiries and sales
• Time saving

How does my configurator achieve these goals and what are the basic requirements?
 

Website visitors - the basic building block

A configurator is a visitor magnet and creates more traffic on your website. However, it is important that it is easy to find, preferably at the top of the search results. Even a great configurator is useless if it is not found.

If your website and thus also the configurator is not found in the search engine or only with great difficulty, the success of the configurator will be very low. This problem can be solved by means of search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine advertising (SEA). Search engine optimization is exclusively about organic search results. You don't pay for a better ranking, but you make the content attractive for the users. Ideally, you will be displayed higher up after the optimizations, without having to buy such a placement. The counterpart to this is search engine advertising. Here you buy the top rankings.

Differentiation from competitors - do better

In the best case, your competitors do not yet have a 3D configurator in use and you gain a unique selling point. However, due to the technical changes of the last few years, it is possible that a few competitors are already using a configurator. What now? Please do not try to copy the configurator, i.e. the design and operation. Customers will quickly label this as a copy and very unimaginative. Instead, you should develop a configurator that is tailor-made for your company. When is my configurator better than that of the competition? It is important to take a close look at the following components:

• Loading speed
• 2D or 3D visualization and the quality of this visualization
• Appealing design of the user interface
• Intuitive usability - tailored to your target group
• Information flow by means of info areas
• Display and insight of the price

Tip: Do not underestimate the importance of an appealing and intuitive website. If your potential customers don't feel picked up, they will bail out and never get to the configurator. Even if you have already completed a configuration, something can still go wrong. If a certain payment option is not offered in the store, if your potential customers have to enter too much data, or if there are delivery costs, they will often cancel the order despite having completed the configuration and buy from the competition. As you can see, you can't leave anything to chance.
 

Better product presentation and explanation

A configurator shows the product variety and possibilities. First and foremost, it serves as an advisor and supports the user in finding and configuring the desired product. Through an interactive 3D visualization and perhaps even augmented reality, your customers experience the product down to the last detail.

The more transparent the information provided to customers, the more likely they are to trust and buy your brand. Have you read our blog article "The Paradox of Choice"? It shows that a larger number of options does not necessarily lead to higher sales. Configurators are extremely helpful here because they already make a pre-selection for customers.

More inquiries and sales

We repeatedly advertise with increased inquiries and increased sales. Numerous configurator case studies from our customers confirm this. Examples of successful configurator deployments: Vespa increased online orders by 6 times and total sales by more than 10% with a configurator, while B+N Industries received up to 30% more customer inquiries. The company boasts customers such as Bank of America, Mc Donalds, Starbucks and Disney.

Not all customers manage that. Why is that? Whoever takes into account the above-mentioned points such as sufficient website traffic, mobile-optimized, transparent product presentation, appealing website ... etc. will be successful. We cannot give any guarantee. Some customers have little or no increase in sales because the product is simply no longer in demand or the configurator is "hidden" and not placed prominently enough. Some configurators, for example, do not pursue the goal of increasing sales. They serve as sales support and help to speed up the ordering process.
 

Time saving

When you introduce a configurator in your company, you naturally expect it to save valuable time in quotation preparation or, for example, parts list creation and to act as a sales support. How can this goal be achieved?

• The configurator must be fun and intuitive to use so that sales staff enjoy working with it.
• The configurator must be specified for the user group.
• The configurator must be seamlessly integrated into the existing system landscape.

A configurator can only develop its full potential if a well thought-out concept is worked out in advance with all the people involved.
 

Conclusion: What problems does my configurator solve?

Anyone who wants to exploit the maximum success of a configurator must take all the above aspects into account and pursue them consistently. Then nothing can stand in the way of a successful configurator. Half-hearted solutions achieve nothing and, in case of doubt, harm the company. It is important to understand what specific problems the configurator is supposed to solve and what goals are to be pursued with it. A half-hearted approach to implementing or using the configurator can lead to inadequate results. Set clear goals and pursue them.