Product configurator

A product configurator lets a buyer choose the options of a product and see the result. The oldest ones are forms: pick a size from a dropdown, pick a colour from a list. Visual configurators show the choice on an image or, in 3D, on a model the buyer can turn.

The term is shared with a different world. In manufacturing software, a configurator is the engine that checks a complex order against engineering rules, usually as part of a CPQ system. That kind sits behind a sales desk, and the two are rarely the same product.

For a retailer the useful distinction is between configuration and personalisation. Configuration chooses among options the maker offers. Personalisation adds something unique, an engraving or a name. 3D suits configuration; personalisation, such as engraved text, is only sometimes worth modelling.

Three types on a product page

Option forms. Dropdowns and radio buttons, with the price updating below. Every shop platform has these built in. They work for options the buyer does not need to see, such as a warranty or a delivery slot, and they fail for anything visual, because the buyer is asked to imagine the result.

Image swap. One photograph per combination, shown as the buyer picks. This is fine for a product with a handful of colours. It stops working when the combinations multiply. A sofa in forty fabrics with three leg finishes needs 120 photographs for one angle, and each new fabric needs another shoot.

3D. One model that carries the options and is drawn in the browser. Fabrics, colours and finishes are materials on the same model; modules and parts are pieces that dock onto it; sizes can be generated from dimensions. The buyer turns the result, zooms in and, on a phone, places it in the room. This is the 3D product configurator, and the one the rest of this entry is about. For product configurator examples, our playground has live demos of a sofa, a shed, a car, a stone table, a dining chair and more; the chair, the mattress, the garden set and the shed show a live price.

What a configurator has to do besides look right

Showing the combination is only part of the job. The configurator also has to price it and pass a valid order to the back office, so every combination it allows must be one the factory can make. If a buyer can pick a fabric that is not available on that frame, the order has to be cancelled and the customer contacted. Our article on what a furniture configurator has to do before it earns its place goes through all three jobs and where projects tend to go wrong.

What the shop platform allows

The configurator goes on the product page as one snippet, so Shopify, Shopware, Magento, WooCommerce and custom shops take it the same way. The limits are in how the order is passed back. Shopify allows three options per product, so a lounge chair in fabric and frame fits a normal variant, while a modular sofa with six layouts, forty fabrics and three leg finishes does not, and the configurator passes that order as a line item with the chosen options attached. The entries on a configurator for Shopify and a configurator for Shopware cover the platform side.

Configurator or CPQ

If the buyer is a shopper on a product page, the tool is a product configurator. If the buyer is a sales representative quoting a machine with hundreds of dependent options, the tool is CPQ, and the shopper never sees it. The two can be connected, with the 3D configurator feeding the shopper's choice into CPQ for a quote, which is what a 3D CPQ setup means.

What it costs

A configurator for colours and materials on one model is on our Value plan, from 20 dollars per model per month, for at least 100 models over 24 months, with the 3D model, hosting, updates and implementation included. Modular and parametric configurators are quoted on their own. The plans are on the prices page, and we configure one product with colour and material options free through the page for our 3D product configurator for online shops.

Questions

What is a product configurator in e-commerce?

A tool on the product page that lets the shopper choose the product's options and see the result. The simplest are option forms; the most complete are 3D models that update as the shopper chooses and show the price of the combination.

What is the difference between a product configurator and CPQ?

A product configurator is for the shopper on the product page. CPQ (configure, price, quote) is sales software for complex B2B products, used by a sales team to validate and quote an order. They can be connected but are different tools.

Which products need a configurator?

Products sold in combinations the shop cannot photograph one by one: sofas in many fabrics, modular furniture, sheds and cabinets made to size, cars with paints and wheels. A product in three colours does not need one; a viewer with three material options is enough.

Does a product configurator work with Shopify?

Yes, as one snippet on the product page. Shopify's three-option limit per product applies to how the order is stored, so products with more option groups are passed as line items with the chosen options attached.