What do helmets, couches, and watches all have in common? Not much, except that all are part of the explosive  digital commerce trend, online 3D product configuration. While the manufacturers of these products are leading the way, most products will inevitably be sold this way before long. In fact, most customers will come to expect it as a natural part of their e-commerce experience. While selecting colors and textures has been a mainstay of product customization for quite some time, the new trend is to offer customers hundreds of options so that they can see their specific come to life in intricate, exquisite detail.

Today, eCommerce is a $3.5 trillion business and is projected to be worth $4.9 trillion by 2021. If you sell products online, you already know that competition is fierce and every vendor is looking for an edge. Science suggests you’d be likely to find that edge through your customer’s visual experience. After all, 90% of what our brains process is visual.

There’s a good chance you’ve seen a 3D rendered image today.  Whether you’re watching animated cartoons, flipping through a magazine, viewing billboards on your morning commute, or scrolling through social media on your phone, you’re likely to come across images created by the process known as 3D rendering. In fact, 3D rendered images have become an important form of visual content for marketers, advertisers, content producers, and others.

You may be asking yourself,  “What gives? I’ve been watching movies in 3D for over 20 years—performance is an issue with 3D?”