Five Product Customization Ideas for Online Retail Sites in 2021

We can bet that there is at least one solution you’ve never tried to engage potential clients and increase sales. We’re talking about customizers that allow users to create their items by choosing shapes, styles, colors, engraving, and so on.

Many brands have been leveraging configurators for many years as a powerful personalization tool, so why not integrate this option into your online shop? Especially since product builders are applicable to very different sectors like clothing and footwear, kitchens and other furniture, watches and other accessories, electronics and cars.

In this article, we’ll consider five examples that can give you wholesome insights about product customization in eCommerce and inspiration for your business.
 

One Possible Issue to Consider

Customizers are incredibly attractive as they not only give a chance to craft a unique piece to one’s liking but also make shopping more interactive and fascinating. The only reason for concern here can be the deterioration of a website’s performance, especially for online shops on such a complex platform as Magento. A product configurator must apply and show every change of an item instantly, and the achievement of satisfying speed can be challenging.

Thus, prior to implementing a constructor, we recommend you conduct media and code optimization, Magento MySQL tuning, Elasticsearch installation, and taking other steps to improve a site’s loading speed. The same advice touches upon adding an AR-based try-on or any other hi-tech novelty.

After this important remark, let’s take a look at five customizer examples from different industries
 

Apparel (Michael Andrews Bespoke)

Product builders are currently quite widespread for men’s fashion shops. So, the product builder option is gradually becoming crucial to catch up and overtake competitors.

The American brand Michael Andrews Bespoke offers to design your shirt to the smallest detail: the color/print/type of fabric, type of collar and cuff, as well as front style (see the screenshot below). Moreover, you can add a monogram and opt for either a long or short sleeve style. This way, even a picky customer can get what he wants. Besides the options themselves, a user can read handy prompts about the style and history of every element.
 

Footwear (myVALE)

Perhaps, shoe brands are the most frequent users of configurators. For instance, a German online store, myVALE, gives an opportunity to create a new pair of sandals by changing eight main components in terms of color, material, texture, and other parameters. Likewise, you can add some orthopedic features to make the shoes even more comfortable.

The “Your own design” button is located in the main menu: which means the brand considers it as a remarkable competitive advantage.
 

Accessories (Rolex)

Niche, as well as famous accessories brands, uses customization in a more or less limited format. Basically, it’s engraving solely. But Rolex goes further. In five steps, you can fully customize your future watch: choose the model, material, bezel, bracelet, and dial.

The website is a storefront rather than a classic online shop: a user can’t order the timepiece straight away; they can only contact a retailer. But with a product builder, Rolex introduces its watches to as many people as possible and gives them an opportunity to explore models and technologies behind them.
 

Furniture (SCHMIDT)

The next excellent product customization example is from France. The company offers prospects to design their future kitchen, wardrobe, cupboard, or bathroom. Its 3D configurator is extremely convenient and thoroughly elaborated. When it comes to the kitchen, you can opt for its type (the closest to your real one), worktops, handles, fronts, and carcasses.

Moreover, you can try various colors and textures for flooring and walls to understand how finishing in the kitchen will look with the chosen furnishing solution. You can rotate the layout to estimate it from different angles.

Then you can save the project on the website, download it, or make an appointment with a manager to discuss your layout.
 

Electronics (JBL)

One more amazing product builder in eCommerce belongs to JBL. Their customizer brings much fun during the creation of one’s design of a speaker or headphones. You can modify the color of a case, add a print, text, or stickers/emojis. Moreover, you can upload a photo or a pic to make your item even more personal. It would be a gorgeous gift idea, by the way!

The brand considers customization as a profitable option; thus, the “Personalize” button is placed right on the main menu on JBL’s website.
 

To Conclude

Product builders can substantially improve your revenue. Firstly, this means inviting users to participate in creating a product that tightens links between a business and its audience. Secondly, this is an opportunity to get precisely what a person needs that improves the odds of making a purchase. Many companies have already reached a new level of relationships with customers due to not only using classic promotional strategies like email marketing, SEO, or remarketing but also making a huge step towards genuine personalization.