Product Configurators Enable New Business Models

We owe the triumph of product configurators to the growing number of digitally savvy people who are increasingly adapting their behavior in terms of the way they search for information. This changes the decision-making processes and also how people consume. A large majority would like to be able to research as much information as possible online. Whether in public transport on mobile devices or at home on the computer. The product visualization and access (loading speed) play a major role, as does the possibility of putting together the product according to your own taste and preferences. Furthermore, users want to establish a certain relationship with the product/service (trust) before the purchase decision is made.

A product configurator can be an encouraging or even the central element for this. The customer's needs are precisely queried and the focus is on them, the customers feel understood and the company finds it easier to meet the customer's needs because they have been precisely specified.

But where can such a product configurator be used effectively? In principle, this is possible in all areas where different variants are available and the business model allows this or should be adapted accordingly. It doesn't matter whether it's about charging your own e-vehicle and the local conditions, building a terrace with space and materials or putting together a tailor-made dream kitchen with individual colors and elements, doors, handles... .

Thus, by using a configurator, even demanding customer groups can be developed. There are possible types of configurators here: types-of-product-configurators

The longer the more business partners (B2B) want to consume digital offers/possibilities in the way end consumers are used to. Say no complicated order platforms and confusing masks, through which you have to click through cumbersome. So solutions are required that meet exactly this requirement. But what business opportunities are opened up by using a configurator?

1. E-Commerce: Offer your products - customized thanks to the online configurator

Products and services that have a high number of variants and require a high degree of customer-specific input cannot be sold well via a classic online shop (where only the quantity or color can be specified). This circumstance can be taken into account by using an online configurator, which focuses on the wishes of the customer. It is precisely these digital solutions from which various sectors, such as trade and services, can benefit. Here is an example in which the situation of the potential customer is clearly in the foreground at the beginning and the right product is only given as a solution at the end: https://em.offerten-rechner.ch/partnerselection

2. Direct access to end customers (B2C) thanks to the configurator

Do you know it? Do you actually only sell your products to retailers and yet interested potential end customers keep coming to you? Should you now slam the door in their face or give them the opportunity to find out more online or even to buy something? This option is primarily aimed at companies that want to transform/expand their sales model from B2B (business-to-business) to B2C (business-to-consumer). Create direct and greatly simplified access to end users with an online product configurator.

This offers the chance of a forward integration of your business model. Capitalize on growing sales and improve the customer experience while also selling directly to the end consumer. The quality of your products and sales is in your hands. Of course, the configurator also plays a central role here and saves the time and money of a complex consultation. A starting point is created from which it is possible to determine much more quickly what the end customer wants. For example, he wants to design his own furniture, for example with the size and materials that are to be used.

3. The configurator increases the sales of your business customers (B2B)

Use a configurator to gain competitive advantages. Are you one of many suppliers who offer their products to retailers? Then be the first to use the opportunity to be one step ahead of your competitors. How it works? Advice and price evaluation is often still associated with mechanical processes, with static product pages and laborious calculation of prices and subsequent manual submission of an offer. Thanks to a modern configurator, this effort is no longer necessary. Once the content has been compiled on the user-friendly interface, the offer and the desired product can be displayed directly. The trade also wants a process that is as simple as possible, which you can give to the trade thanks to your configurator. Whether this configurator is then used directly with the end customer for on-site trading is irrelevant. It is important that you are seen as No. 1 in retail in the future because you simplify processes and best meet customer needs.

AMAG could serve as an example, which has several suppliers of vehicle bodies at hand. In the long term, preference will certainly be given to the provider who, in addition to a good product, streamlines and simplifies the processes for retail when collecting customer requirements and when submitting an offer.

4. The configurator increases the sales of your business customers (B2B2C)

Are you in a B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer) scenario or are you aiming for it? Do you produce something and sell it through the middleman? You have the opportunity to support the intermediate trade efficiently. Provide your sales partners with a configurator that will support them in offering your products to end customers in a simplified manner.

A good configurator that focuses on a mature customer experience (CX) makes it possible to generate sales faster and retain customers in the long term.

Your partners benefit from the modern configurator from simpler processes and higher sales, which in turn leads to a corresponding order situation on your side. It also gives you access to valuable data.

5. The transformation to a marketplace (platform business)

Do you want to develop your business model from a linear model to a platform model? Or are you a start-up and want to use the possibilities of a platform model? For many companies that venture into this area, the use of a good product configurator is the central element.

On a corresponding online platform, the offers of the providers can be selected by the potential buyer (configurator/wizard) and often visualized and displayed with corresponding prices.

Such a configurator on a platform would make it possible, for example, to generate leads and sell them on. Or there is a corresponding “fee model”, which is borne by the provider or the purchaser.

For example, let's compare a large hotel chain and Airbnb. While the chain has to bear its own hotels and thus the risk of operating them (physical buildings and staff), Airbnb does not need its own hotels by using its platform and only needs a fraction of the staff for the same or similar sales. Depending on your current business model and/or your future orientation, the use of a configurator in connection with the platform model would be worth considering.

6. You as the software provider: License your configurator

Do you have or want to incorporate a great deal of know-how into your configurator and also want others to be able to benefit from it and pass on your know-how? Then you can earn money from it through licenses. Together with partners, the focus is on the development of custom configurators to optimally support the license model. As a professional, you tell us what your licensees want from the configurator and are then the owner of this software and can offer it through your sales network. As a developer and technical support we are of course still available.

Summary

On the one hand, digital product configurators enable new business models, for example by eliminating the need for physical contact and making an offer much faster or triggering a sale. This applies to both the B2C and B2B model.

The main advantage is clearly the possibility of “custom“; on a user-friendly interface of the product configurator, clearly displaying the selection option and, according to the customer's decision, displaying the desired products in a 3D visualization (see what you get). The stored data, in turn, makes it possible, through automation in connection with a database, to calculate prices, output a PDF offer, or even send it. Previously manual processes are being digitized and greatly accelerated.

On the other hand, it is the current state of technology and the associated technologies that enable new business cases with the associated sales opportunities.