Are you interested in creating a complex configurable product for your online webshop? StudioFG can help you with this using technologies like grasshopper /rhino in combination with shapediver and the API of your e-commerce system.
Shopify + shapediver
With a market share of about 30% Shopify has proven itself to be a robust e-commerce system. Together with the shapediver plugin your webshop can be rtransformed into a fully configurable product experience with downloadable models and with easy checkout. You can engage customers with customizable products and process complex orders right away.
Similar functionalities can be achieved for WooCommerce or other web shop systems. However, since there is currently no pre-made plugin available, this requires custom development.
What is a configurable product?
A configurable product is a product that can be customized by the customer according to whatever variables you offer. For example, a chair or bench that can be produced in any size, shape or colour based on the customer’s preferences.
Are all aspects of a configurable product dynamic? Not necessarily. Imagine the same chair mentioned above. Perhaps the width and height can change but the number of bolts in the frame is not chosen by the customer; it is simply updated with the design. Or perhaps the chair’s legs cannot be customized. This would then be considered a static attribute.
The parametric model
Behind these customer-made adaptations to configurable products is a parametric model. This parametric model contains:
- input parameters (height, width, color etc.)
- an algorithm, which contains the logic behind the adaptations based on values from the pre-specified parameters
- output: the output can be a product in a shopping cart, downloadable (and sellable) construction drawings, a rendering, or any other output that your application requires.
A growing market
Due to new production technologies like 3D-printing and other mass customization methods, configurable products are gaining popularity. Configurable products are also becoming increasingly popular for producers of hand-made goods or furniture, as they allow customers the freedom to customize their designs.
Let us help
Let StudioFG help you create and implement a configurable product solution for your business. Using the processes and software described above, we are prepared to take on sophisticated projects and guide you through even the most complex usage cases. And if needed, we can call on our network of specialists in other fields.