Product Configurator Software The Dynamic eCommerce Product Configurator Product Configurator Software Conversations are communications on websites between customers and staff, stakeholders and self-service applications. The way to improve customer service is to automate and update search filters so that clients get instant returns on relevant product searches. integration fuels these kinds of efficiencies so that conversations are never dropped or forgotten. Product selector software helps to provide customers with a guided shopping experience. Customers often have unique tastes, special product needs and complex purchase order requirements. Marketplaces with tens or hundreds of thousands of products often suffer from navigation or filter overload, making it a long and tedious process for users to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for. Product configurator software or custom product configurators can help customers build their orders in self-service applications without necessarily needing to contact a salesperson and senior executive to approve the order. Integration with your back-end ERP configuration for fulfillment ensures that all software applications work together to empower customer searches, know real-time inventory, project accurate lead times, enable customers to order custom products and allow customers to design their products with a high degree of creativity. Only a platform, coupled with a UX design firm, like Clarity with their eCommerce and integration platforms, can provide you the kind of configurators that have been proven to increase and drive sales. WooCommerce Product Search Extension One of the more popular types of selector software is the WooCommerce Product Search extension. [1] This application is easy to configure so that it displays key products that the company wants to push. Search recommendations are also a strong way to encourage faster clicks. This inexpensive WooCommerce plugin allows intuitive product previews based on each customer. Custom labels can inform customers when a product is part of a current promotion and thus being sold at a lower price than normal. Product catalogs, sub-catalogs and specialty catalogs can expand at a dizzying pace as more and more products are introduced and marketed globally. Many B2B companies sell products from multiple vendors, and the number of SKUs often reaches many millions. Site visitors need to narrow these items in searches--especially small parts such as washers, gaskets and o-rings, which are essential accessories that are never interchangeable. Product selector software offers the tools to manage more efficient searches for your customers. For example, the WooCommerce plugin mentioned earlier can search for products using Search Weights. For example, a keyword mentioned in the title might receive a “weight” of 60. Green seedless grapes might be the product that a company carries. If the user searches for green grapes, the search weight would be 60 plus 60, or 120. Search weights can be set for product descriptions, titles, tags and other content to generate more efficient and accurate searches. integration allows all operating and CRM software to work with special business applications to customize searches for each customer or stakeholder role in a decision-making process. Customers can not only use advanced filtering capabilities and receive automated recommendations but also configure custom orders, price them, get approvals in real-time and place the orders immediately through self-service dashboards or customer portals. Now for some off the shelf options Product Configurator Software Traditional search filters can narrow searches, but combining multiple terms often defeats the purpose because they’re difficult to code and order. That’s one of the benefits of CPQ software. CPQ is short for “configure, price and quote,” and this advanced software can help customers configure and order custom products and price them competitively in real-time. This software reduces the need to filter hundreds of product options to find a product that meets exacting specifications. Customized products can sell at 30 percent to 50 percent more than similar products sold in stores, a boon for manufacturers. [2] Other strong benefits of integrated CPQ software include: Error-free Communications Integrated CPQ and CRM software enable a host of benefits such as the ability to deal with all aspects of custom orders in the same place. This reduces human error because all sales interactions take place in a unified system. Faster Conversions The typical delays when placing custom orders are cut dramatically when every decision-maker can view all the details of the order and sign off on them. Automated pricing and estimates ensure that the usual miscalculations and revisions don’t occur. Increased Customer Satisfaction Customers can learn more about the manufacturing process including prices, labor costs and supply chain concerns. Educated customers are happier and more willing to expand their orders with special requests. Better Bundling Custom manufacturing can lead to higher sales with customized accessories and bundling deals. CPQ integrations connect with inventory software to make relevant recommendations for accessories, parts, extended warranties and other sales “extras.” Reduced Training Costs New salespeople often face a learning curve when it comes to pricing wholesale orders or custom products. It’s quite common for enthusiastic salespeople to promise untenable prices to land a big order, but revising the conditions of the sale can easily lead to a cancellation. CPQ software can supply the right prices without the sales staff needing to learn the engineering and pricing details of almost every product in the company’s inventory. Companies experience 17-percent higher lead conversion rates when they use CPQ software as a selling tool. Companies with integrated CPQ make deals that run 105-percent larger than average. In sales, about 67 percent of salespeople miss their quotas, but 26 percent more reps achieve their goals when using CPQ software. [3] What Type of Configurator Will Provide the Biggest Impact? Your Platform for Sales Growth It’s not easy to get people to your website, so you want to maximize the results of every visit. That requires offering a great user experience and powerful self-service features. Integrating product selectors, having a custom one designed and built or using CPQ software gives your customers extended options for custom searches and custom orders. The right developer can integrate your platform fully to automate and customize product sales and catalog management. Customers want the easiest path to fulfilling their product needs, and your integrated platform can provide simple and intuitive features that make ordering simple. Clarity eCommerce with specifically designed user experiences tailored to your clients and your products is the most effective way to achieve your customer satisfaction and conversion goals. Give Clarity a call today to discuss your custom configurator project. References: [1] Learnwoo.com: Increase Conversions with Better WooCommerce Product Search https://learnwoo.com/increase-conversions-better-woocommerce-product-search/ [2] Commandc.com: Our Top 10 in 2017 https://www.commandc.com/2017/07/05/product-configurator/ [3] Axonom.com: 5 Stat-Backed Benefits That Prove CPQ Is The Perfect E-Commerce Tool https://www.axonom.com/5-stat-backed-benefits-that-prove-cpq-is-the-perfect-e-commerce-tool