Let’s say you found a nice shirt in an online store. It is almost perfect, but the color doesn’t match your taste and style. Also, you’d like to have a different collar and remove this weird pocket.
Your actions? Most likely, you either compromise or leave the site to seek a better item elsewhere. Anyway, with a slight feeling of disappointment and irritation.
That’s why product configurators are quite actively spreading across eCommerce. They allow leads to opt for specific features of goods to their liking.
Moreover, this is an opportunity to take part in the creation and make a unique order afterward. Sounds inspiring both for customers and merchants, doesn’t it?
Below, we’ll name the advantages and weak points of customizers. Then we’ll talk about examples from various industries: clothing, footwear, accessories, cars, electronics, and stationery.
Why Should You Launch a Product Constructor?
There are several factors in favor of investing in a product builder for your online store:
- It improves the odds of conversion in each particular case. If users have a broader choice and can make changes, they are likely to place an order.
- It provides genuine personalization to customers. Clients can purchase items that satisfy them in all aspects.
- It is the easiest way to obtain what’s needed fast. People are used to shopping online, and they like to solve challenging tasks without even leaving home. Online builders save much energy and time, unlike, for example, bespoke offline ateliers.
- It transforms shopping into a fascinating experience. A consumer may feel like a creator who directly influences the final design.
- It gives insights into people’s preferences. By analyzing users’ behavior and decisions, you can be more precise when planning the next collections.
- It increases customer loyalty. When users see the new level of service and have wider possibilities, they tend to become regular clients.
- It auspiciously affects sales. Finally, due to all stated above, your business’s profitability is enhancing.
How to Implement a Customizer Without Damaging a Site’s Performance?
Nevertheless, you should take care of the technical capability of your online store to support the product-building functionality.
The feature must instantly and correctly display every change a user applies. In the meantime, the customizer shouldn’t overload and slow down your website.
How to avoid such an issue? At least optimize your online store (its caching strategy, media, database, search, etc.).
But if you’re looking for a drastic solution, we’d recommend substituting an obsolete monolithic architecture of your store with a headless one. It implies splitting a frontend and backend. In turn, this inevitably makes websites much faster.
For instance, by using a React library with Magento or any other CMS, developers can create progressive web apps (PWAs) that can boast blazing-fast speed and flawless UX/UI. These and a few more characteristics will be comparable to those of native apps. Gradually this approach will be superseding a monolithic one.
Six Worthy Customizers in Online Retail
Now that you have come this far, let’s find out some great customizers in online retail or eCommerce and learn more about them.
1. Apparel: Suit Supply
The brand highlights the possibility for users to modify basic models of clothing (suits, shirts, jackets, vests, pants, and coats) in line with their preferences. Let’s see what you can do to receive a custom-made jacket with your design.
You start with dozens of fabric samples of different colors, prints, and blends. Then you choose style elements: the type of closure, buttons, lining, pockets, and many more. The next menu offers you either to select a standardized size or put in individual measurements.
Finally, in the summary tab, you can check and change any parameter. After that, you will see the total and can take it to the checkout page.
[Screenshot taken on the official Suit Supply website]
Pros & Cons
On the one hand, this constructor is pretty detailed to personalize an item to the maximum. Every point has explanations and some technical details to help you make conscious decisions.
On the other hand, this builder works with quite noticeable lags, and the changes apply with delay. One more drawback is the absence of 360-degree rotation of an item. You can only see the front side of the jacket.
2. Footwear: Converse
The “Custom” button is located in the main menu to be more visible. Here you can choose one of the models available for transformation and start. Let’s design a crazy pair of Chuck Tailor All Star Slip!
You can see 11 customizable elements from the body and tongue to the racing strap and embroidery text. To be honest, the process carried me away, and I spent not less than 15 minutes choosing color combinations and other details.
After all the manipulation, I saw perfect and unique shoes that I’d really like to order. That’s what it’s all about: the passion for creating and getting exactly what you want.
[Screenshot taken on the official Converse website]
Pros & Cons
The customizer works amazingly quickly and correctly. And the best news is that the price for the custom pair remains the same as for the basic one. You can add your item to the cart straight away, share the design via social media, or save the link to return later.
This product builder doesn’t have a 360-degree view, while the zoom is available only on the final stage when you press “Done”. Besides this, the online store doesn’t have a wish list where you can save liked items.
3. Accessories: Dominic’s
Custom jewelry is one of the primary directions for this brand. Based on the particular models, people can create luxurious bespoke rings in 4 steps. The progress bar consists of the following points: “Mounting Options”, “Set Stones”, “Engraving Options”, and “Review & Notes”.
Firstly, you need to choose the center stone’s shape and size, metal, and finger size. Secondly, opt for the types and colors of all the stones and set them. Thirdly, add engraving if needed. Fourthly, check the final price and add the piece to a quote.
[Screenshot taken on the official Dominic’s website]
Pros & Cons
This configurator has impressively wide capabilities to design distinctive jewelry. However, it has quite a vague interface with lots of buttons and tabs, which look not as intuitive as it should be.
4. Stationery: Bright Star Kids
The “Create & Buy” feature is an integral part of this brand’s concept. Here you can design name labels, school supplies, stuff for learning and organizing, and even pieces of clothing.
Let’s say you need individual weekly planners for your children. Each of them has their own tastes and wishes. So, you can create many different items in minutes.
You just choose the background, color, and font of the text. After that, you see the total and can place the order. Parents can even entrust the creation to kids: it will be fun!
[Screenshot taken on the official Bright Star Kids website]
Pros & Cons
This constructor is intuitively comprehensible and super swift. I haven’t noticed any bugs.
5. Cars: KIA
Alongside many other car manufacturers, KIA has a “Build” option on its website. With this customizer, prospects can not only visualize their future cars but also explore their peculiarities and estimate the price from the comfort of their home.
For example, you’d like to buy KIA Soul. In the product builder, you can opt for the exterior color, trim (outside and inside), and “stuffing”, including loads of additional options.
The final steps are calculating the price, getting a quote, and/or searching the nearest inventory.
[Screenshot taken on the official KIA website]
Pros & Cons
KIA’s configurator is equipped with a 360-degree view which helps to better understand how your vehicle will look like. All technical features are explained, and the price of each is indicated.
6. Electronics: JBL
JBL invites users to invent new designs by the “Personalize” button in the main menu. The selected models of speakers, earbuds, and headphones are highly customizable.
You can play with casing colors, base design (solid colors, patterns, prints, and even photos), logo color, texts, and stickers. When it comes to headphones, you can design each “ear” separately.
In the end, you can make a purchase and/or share your cool design via socials, email, or a link.
The price won’t depend on the look of the item. But the piece itself will reflect your personality as well as your taste in music.
[Screenshot taken on the official JBL website]
Pros & Cons
The “Drag to rotate” feature helps to get a holistic picture of what you’re doing. The customizer works very quickly and accurately, which draws you into an enjoyable process.
Final Thoughts
Product customization is a powerful means of digital marketing. Giving a profoundly personalized and captivating shopping experience, such constructors contribute to better conversions and increase customer loyalty. Therefore, they can serve as a significant trigger in the sales funnel of your website. That’s why it’s an excellent idea to embed a product builder into your online store or landing page.
The best thing about customizers is versatility. Above, we regarded just several sectors: apparel, footwear, accessories, stationery, cars, and electronics. But you can find configurators in the furniture, sanitaryware, eyewear, watch, or cosmetics stores.
Amid the steady move towards personalization in eCommerce and other industries, product builders are expected to appear on the sites of more and more brands. It’s important to be at the forefront of this trend rather than try to catch up later.
About the Author
Kate Parish
Kate Parish is the chief marketing officer at Onilab with over 8 years of experience in Digital Marketing in the sphere of eCommerce web development. Kate always aspires to broaden her competency in line with cutting-edge global trends. Her primary areas of professional interest include SEO, branding, PPC, SMM, Magento PWA development, and online retail in general.
