How to Add A Product Visualizer To Your Website

There is nothing like checking out your latest purchase in person...or is there? As consumers have become more comfortable with making purchases online and more reliant on the convenience that shopping from their favorite device affords, the need, and more importantly the desire, to venture into a store is decreasing. However, while convenience will rule a large portion of decision making, when it comes to spending their hard earned money, consumers still want to be sure that what they buy online matches what arrives at their door. To balance the desire for convenience and the need for confidence in purchase, many brands and retailers have turned to 3D configuration, product visualization, and augmented reality.

How To Add A Product Visualizer To A Website

There are several methods for adding 3D experiences such as product configuration and augmented reality. Depending on a brand’s needs and resources, one of these solutions will likely be a better fit than the others.

Building A 3D Configurator From Scratch

Conventional wisdom will say that anything built completely custom from scratch is going to be more expensive and require more time than any other option on the market - and this holds true for 3D configurators. Building a 3D experience from scratch gives you the greatest amount of flexibility, customization, and control in design, but it also requires the greatest level of skill and knowledge to effectively deploy a successful experience. If you have a design team in place with the skills to create your 3D experience or the resources to hire the experts to custom build the models, scenes, and coding for the interactive site, building from scratch can deliver a truly one of a kind experience centered on your brand.

Keep in mind that while building your solution from scratch gives you the greatest amount of flexibility, it also requires the greatest amount of time in planning and execution. To build a successful experience, 3D models of each product will need to be developed, the scenes and environments in which the products are featured must be designed, control features and limitations must be determined, and the addition of the experience must be coded onto the site. All in all, brands building a 3D configurator from scratch should expect to spend many months prior to launch, and allocate resources for maintenance and updates as needed.

3D Tools In eCommerce Platforms

As 3D has become a more demanded feature by consumers and brands, ecommerce and web hosting platforms have created options for clients to directly upload 3D assets or use plugins to help create a 3D experience. In 2020 Shopify rolled out functionality that allows clients to upload 3D images and videos to their product pages. These assets can be used in tandem with augmented reality experiences or other immersive experiences, and can be deployed within a matter of weeks once the models are created.

While tools such as those offered by Shopify allow for a quick execution of 3D within a product page, resources will still need to be allocated for the creation of the 3D models and assets. Brands should also note that the features and functionality will be limited to the options that vendors like Shopify choose to offer, leaving far less room for customization.

Product Visualization Software

Product Visualization software offers brands the ease and speed of a prebuilt solution with the power and customization capabilities of a bespoke experience. By using product visualization software, brands unlock the power of 3D with solutions that can be tailored to fit the exact needs of their customers, from product visualizers for single product offerings, to fully customizable products, and augmented reality experiences that place the buyer’s purchase right at their feet.