Configurator Exclusions Make e-Commerce Personalized

Remember those quizzes that would tell you which personality trait you had, what you should try, buy, watch? These quizzes were usually found in magazines as a way to engage readers but they also are popular online. The reason for its popularity, without getting caught up in the psychology of things, is that it ties into our identity and self-awareness while being fun and interactive. A product configurator is able to take elements of those quizzes like personalization, choice, and interaction, and apply it in an e-Commerce environment.

How Does Configurator Do This?

Configurators in itself are engaging on your website. We can achieve a “quiz” effect through steps, questions, and content descriptions carefully laid out to guide customers, taking into account preferences and showing relevant products. Exclusions can also be used extensively throughout Configurator to narrow down choices and options, honing in on what a customer will like, and presenting relevant products.

Let’s take a look at our coffee configurator as an example.

Coffee Configurator Example

The steps and questions of this coffee configurator are designed to walk the customer through the various decision criteria of selecting the ideal coffee. Steps in this configurator include Intensity, Roast, and Flavour. Depending on the choices made, we can set up exclusions to only show coffee blends that meet a customer’s needs and preferences.

This is a flexible shopping process; if customers are not happy with the choices presented, or they misunderstood something, they can easily go back and reselect. It becomes a learning experience. For example, a customer may have the idea in their head that they prefer intense coffee. However, when they are presented with the choices and the flavor notes, they may decide that they actually prefer a mellow blend instead.

• See how the choices made here (medium intensity) show various medium level roasts
• It then proceeds to show only blends in the roast selected (medium dark)

Opportunity for Upsells

Instead of simply selling coffee, you’re selling the experience. After those previous steps, we now sell what goes into the coffee, like cream, sugar, or flavoured syrups. This now presents even more useful information to the customer and is also a good upsell and cross sell opportunity. Included in this configurator are coffee makers like a traditional machine and a French press. They may not be looking for those things or even know you offer these but in the context of a configurator, it becomes very clear.

Personalization for Customers 

Configurators really shine when there are customizable products. In this example, we went with a personalized coffee mug. Our item is a mug that comes in different shapes (square and round) and lots of colours and sizes.

An option we can use is custom user text, allowing customers to put whatever they want on their mug. The configurator also offers different font styles and colours to make it even more personalized. Customers can design their perfect mug and their perfect coffee drinking experience.

What else do you need to know?

The actual structure of Configurator allows you to act as a knowledgeable salesperson within the online shop, guiding and helping customers to articulate their needs and preferences.

The Page level gives context while the steps break it down further and educate customers. This is similar to how categories are set up but in a Configurator as it sifts through relevant information and continues to zoom in on customer needs.

The content description in Configurator also tends to take on a more conversational tone (as you ask questions and delve deeper into what customers are looking for). The way Configurator is set up offers up natural talking points to further explain something or give additional details and context.

Product configurators can be complex but with some creativity and the help of Digital Vantage Point, we can make it suit your business needs.

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