Every so often, product marketing experiences an epic breakthrough—and in a few short years, consumers can’t imagine shopping without it.
Take, for example, Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature for the books they sell. There was once a time when shoppers accepted the fact that they couldn’t glance at the contents of a book before purchasing it online. Today? That idea is unthinkable.
Visual product configurators represent a similar breakthrough in the world of eCommerce. It allows shoppers to explore different variations on highly customizable products so they know what they’re getting before they click that “purchase” button. And while this still feels a little like space age technology in some ways, it won’t be long before product visualization becomes the norm in a number of key industries.
What types of industries benefit most from 3D product visualization? While the benefits aren’t limited to the sectors below, innovators in the following six industries are leading the charge and reaping the rewards.
Here’s how—and why—businesses in these sectors are getting the most from product visualization software and edging out the competition.
1. Home Furnishings
Home furnishings are a key beneficiary of 3D product visualization software, from living room sofas, to kitchen appliances, to bathroom essentials like faucets and sinks. Not only do these products come in a variety of configurations, but they also represent a perfect use case for augmented reality.
What is augmented reality? This technology allows shoppers to take the 3D model of, say, a sofa (customized to their specifications) and project it against the background of any room in their home using their phone’s camera. In other words, if they want to see what a specific gunmetal grey sofa looks like in their living room, they just grant the software access to their phone’s camera, hold up the phone in the living room, and project that sofa onto the background.
Augmented reality makes furniture shoppers more confident in their purchases, nudging them along in their buying decisions and reducing returns, which can be costly for big ticket items. That’s why leading retailers like Crate & Barrel and California Closets use Threekit’s 3D visualization software.
2. Commercial & Office Furniture
Business-to-business (B2B) commercial and office furniture sales represents a near $15 billion dollar industry in the United States, and that number continued to grow in 2020, with businesses equipping home offices for their workers.
Since many companies purchase hundreds, if not thousands, of units of furniture at once, it’s vital to get things right the first time. That’s why B2B sales reps use 3D product configuration software as a sales enablement tool—helping Purchasing departments visualize the products they’re customizing and ordering in bulk.
Leaders in office furniture like Herman Miller use Threekit’s services, but our software isn’t limited to selling high-end office chairs. Our clients also sell:
- Custom cabinets and case goods
- Retail displays and fixtures
- Custom doorways and windows
- Custom desks and seating
- And much more
In short, product visualization can revolutionize the sales and purchasing process for office furniture, making things easier on everyone from manufacturers, to resellers, to buyers.
3. Building Materials & Manufacturing
Whether your company designs and constructs building materials or heavy machinery, 3D product visualization can assist everyone from designers, to sales staff, to your project managers.
First, your designers envision the perfect anything—building terrace, wall panel, adjustable desks—you name it! Whatever you manufacture, you can get a designer to build a 3D rendering of it. Next, your sales reps sell that vision, demonstrating a wide range of product variations for your customers. Finally, when your project managers can use a comprehensive system like Threekit that integrates with popular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Product Information Management (PIM) systems, they can oversee a timely, cost-effective project with ease.
4. Apparel & Jewelry
From clothing to shoes, apparel represents endless opportunities for customization, and customization represents an infinite number of opportunities to delight eCommerce customers. As with all customizable products, it quickly becomes difficult (if not impossible) to feature every possible configuration of a product line.
With Threekit’s 3D configuration software, once a retailer creates the visual representations of the component parts, they can reuse those visuals again and again, wherever it makes sense.
5. Medical Devices & Life Sciences
The medical device industry benefits greatly from Threekit’s product visualization software, from those who manufacture custom, precision products to the resellers who work with them. Just like with building and equipment manufacturing, these companies can tie their product data to their ERP and PIM systems to streamline product management. Plus, they can modify and quote costs with ease, providing powerful sales enablement capabilities.
6. Luggage
Luggage has come a long way from the one-size-fits-all approach of decades past. These days, companies like Roam Luggage give their customers’ the opportunity to express themselves with a wide variety of colors, styles, and even monogrammed luggage so it’s easy to find at baggage claim.
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Roam uses Threekit’s visualization software to let shoppers customize the front shell, back shell, and trim of each product. They can also open the virtual product to look inside and see if it’s right for them.
Can 3D Product Visualization Help Your Business Thrive?
Product visualization has a number of benefits for a range of industries—really any industry that requires product customization or could benefit from augmented reality tools that help customers visualize their products in the real world.
What are the tangible results from implementing this technology? There are mountains of data showing that Threekit can help you...
- Boost online sales
- Increase customer engagement
- Reduce returns (studies show they cut returns in half)
- Set customers’ minds at ease
If you’re curious to see how specific companies are using Threekit, check out our post about 10 brands currently using 3D product visualization effectively across different industries. It covers everything from lighting, to furniture, to fine apparel, to office furniture—and more!
Ready to see what Threekit’s 3D product visualization software can do your business? Contact us today for a free demo.
