5 Ways a BigCommerce Product Configurator Can Improve Order Management

Furniture store owners streamlining online sales with a BigCommerce product configurator

There's no question about the benefits online retailers get with BigCommerce as the platform for their eCommerce stores. But once you add a BigCommerce product configurator, you can improve the user experience for your customers.

You can also streamline order management with automated processes and storage solutions that optimize wide-scale repurposing.

If you have a BigCommerce store, then you're probably already enjoying the convenience of a customized store with the ability to drag and drop images for SEO-optimized product pages. The ability to combine the benefits of a SaaS eCommerce platform with user-friendly features makes it one of the most popular ways to sell products online.

 Still, what if there was a way you could enhance your product pages with amazing visuals and streamline order management for even more functionality and less work?

What Is a BigCommerce Product Configurator?

A product configurator is an interactive tool that allows your shoppers to customize products in real time. Then, with AR tools, they can view the finished product in their own space. 

It provides online retailers with a host of useful back-end features, as well. Every step of producing custom products becomes easier for the seller with:

  • 3D models
  • Extensive customization options
  • Auto-generated material lists and assembly instructions
  • Automatic order processing

Our BigCommerce product configurator is designed to wow the customer with 360-degree views and enhanced customization options, while these back-end features simultaneously make your job easier as a seller.

Yes, I want more sales

Let’s take a closer look at these five back-end features:

1. Headless Commerce

As an online retailer, you know it's essential to have apps and platforms that work together without the need to download space-hogging products that fail to deliver the features you need. Incorporating multiple different products to provide customization, augmented reality, and amazing product visuals can make your platform complex and unwieldy. 

The ability to utilize all these benefits from a single flexible format that plugs right into your BigCommerce store means you'll save time and money with every product creation. You also won’t have to wait for developers to catch up with your front-end changes.

Wondering how this could possibly work? Keep reading to learn how the back-end features of a BigCommerce Product Configurator work to improve speed and reduce errors for every order you receive.

2. Advanced Product Configuration

Taking your product specifications from a blueprint to a completely configured 3D model sounds like a complex task. With a 3D product configurator, non-coders can create complex configurations very quickly. 

This means customers have the option to start with pre-configured templates and create their own product by selecting individual pieces from your library of parts. The easily integrated software allows you to achieve faster speed to market. It also reduces development and product setup costs.

3. Automatic Order Processing

When potential customers visit your online store to create a custom product, a user-friendly interface greets them. It guides them through the product customization process. 

The addition of augmented reality to your product pages can even allow customers to use a mobile device to create a visualization of the finished product in their own space.

Even once the customized product order is tweaked and the shopper presses "buy," ThreeKit's BigCommerce configurator keeps going. It immediately generates the order with the exact product specs. Instead of requiring extra time to manually configure the specifications and required materials, the process is already complete and error-free.

Ready to streamline your BigCommerce order management process to eliminate the hassles associated with processing customized orders? Click here to learn more about ThreeKit's revolutionary platform.

4. 3D Asset Management

If you run a BigCommerce website that offers product customization for B2B customers, then you're not alone. But this can mean you'll have to recreate the same products multiple times to fit with the brand or style of a company. 

Selling multiple products is obviously good for business. But you should have a simple process for recreating an original product. A product customizer can help with that, too.

With 3D digital asset management, you can store product data as individual models, materials, and textures to enable wide-scale repurposing. This gives store owners the ability to:

  • Create a product once
  • Access the details easily
  • Use the product again and again

The added tasks and approvals system means you can even create and assign tasks to specific users and track project progress.

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5. Manufacturing Outputs

Manufacturing manager getting easy instructions through a BigCommerce product configurator

When a customer purchases a custom or made-to-order product, a lot of processing is typically required before the manufacturing teams can start. This means a lot of menial tasks for you and a prolonged waiting period for the customer. 

But if you can automate the processes that lead to manufacturing, you'll save considerable time and money.

Your BigCommerce product configurator is designed to accomplish just that. With manufacturing outputs, users can automatically generate and export production-ready models, CAD files, bill-of-materials, assembly instructions, cut patterns, and more.

  • A typical bill of materials lists the parts, components, and quantities needed to manufacture a product. Your custom bill of materials breaks down each of the configured elements for use in manufacturing and allows you to include 2D views of the product. 
  • Assembly instructions can produce a parts list and assembly instructions. It can also include color codes in HTML, PDF, or machine-readable formats.
  • 3D printable files can be generated automatically upon purchase and sent directly to manufacturing. Various types of outputs include CAD, 3D printing, designs for high-resolution printing, and designs for high sublimation printing for clothing.

In the same way that BigCommerce utilizes back-end features that allow you to run a customized store with dynamic product pages and integrate with external applications, ThreeKit utilizes a variety of behind-the-scenes features to make order management a breeze. 

It’s Time to Invest in a Product Configurator

All of the processes that occur after a customer creates a customized product and before shipping can add to the cost of a product. This either means overhead for the company or an increased price for the customer to pay. 

Instead of inflating your prices, utilize technology that can streamline order management and make your job easier. As you can see, ThreeKit's BigCommerce configurator already uses this technology to meet your business needs with a user-friendly interface that improves the shopping experience. 

Now that you understand how ThreeKit's BigCommerce configurator works, get in touch with the platform experts to learn how to get started right away. 

Don't use BigCommerce? Don't worry — we have solutions for Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and a variety of other popular eCommerce platforms.