Configurator for Shopware - personalization in online stores

Shopware is the leading German solution for creating online stores, which is becoming increasingly popular thanks to the many benefits it offers and its commitment to innovation and adaptation to the current needs of digital commerce. It is a modular online store system with over 91,000 customers worldwide, first released as open source software in 2004. With this e-commerce solution, online retailers can design their own online store flexibly and freely. This is an excellent platform for creating modern and innovative online stores, which is characterized by its ease of use and emotional customer appeal when shopping. With the help of an individual Shopware 6 Theme, your store can be perfectly designed.

The main advantages of this store system are

• Flexibility
• Scalability
• Search engine optimization
• Integration with all sales channels
• Various business models

But competition in e-commerce continues to grow and store operators must adapt to the demands of today's market. And that is above all the Personalization.

The desired product in just a few clicks: this is possible with the help of modern configurators. A product configurator helps your customers to design the right item from many possible variants: individual and tailor-made.

In some industries, the finished product can be made to order according to the needs of the customer, who can choose between different options. This is a very powerful tool for companies that want to customize sales and adapt their products/services to meet the specific needs of their customers. Most successful companies have product configurators in use, e.g. Nike or IKEA.

Why do you need a product configurator?

Customized mass production is a challenge, but it brings a lot to the table. These are the most important advantages of a product configurator:

• You gain new customers because you offer individual products or services and thus stand out from the competition. The main idea here is to meet the customer's personal taste and make shopping an experience at the same time.
• They are also successful in B2B sales. In the B2B sector, a product configurator can be used for everything from independent research by the customer, support for a consultation, through to complete independent ordering by your customers.
• You avoid product errors. A product configurator can offer an automated feasibility check to rule out product errors, as it is easy to get lost in the countless possible combinations.
• Better configurations lead to fewer complaints, as the customer has usually thought the order through carefully.
• Customer satisfaction is increased through customer-oriented advice and product focus.

A product configurator enables you to:

• Flexibility in the configuration of articles within the order and sales order processes;
• Easy maintenance, as the parts list is used as the basis for the configuration definition;
• Concept of mandatory and optional elements at the time of configuration.

Here is a simple example of the design of a Rolex watch with the following features:

• 2 Possible configurations for the model
• 4 Possible configurations for the material
• 2 Possible configurations for the bezel
• 12 Possible configurations for the dial

Taking into account all the possible configurations presented above, we can conclude that the finished product can have 192 different configurations, calculated as: 2 x 4 x 2 x 12. So, a simple example can present 192 different configurations, and there are even examples that can present thousands of different configurations.

Types of product configurators

The product configurator is an online product menu that website visitors can use to customize products. There are different types of product configurators, depending on the objective and logic:

• STO configurator: Select-to-order
  The product components are not dependent on each other. The customer selects individual components during configuration and it does not affect other components of the product. This is the simplest type of product configurator. The number of variations is usually small.
  _For example: a T-shirt that is available in 4 sizes and 5 colors.
• PTO configurator: Pick-to-order
  The customer selects available product components and must, however, take component dependencies (options) into account without the help of the configurator. This type of product configurator is just as easy to develop and is used in most online shops
  _For example: a logo on a T-shirt or engraved text on a wedding ring.
• CTO configurator: Configure-to-order
  This type of configurator enables the selection of coordinated components according to a modular system. Customers create configurable products that are not limited to global variations. Each component can be personalized and combined with other components. This is also an easy-to-develop type of product configurator.
  _For example: a configurable handbag with many components and a combination logic.
• ATO configurator: Assemble-to-order
  This type of configuration allows modular products to be created. Individual product components are pre-produced and the end product is manufactured according to customer requirements and certain component dependencies. This type of product configurator is more complicated to develop.
  _For example: a modular storage system with complex logic.
• MTO configurator: Make-to-order
  With this type of product configuration, the individual product components are already stored in advance and further processing takes place after the order is placed. This can be used by companies with fully or partially automated production. This type of product configurator is very complicated to develop.
  _For example: modeling complicated furniture.
• ETO configurator: Engineer-to-order
  This type involves the creation of fully customized products with a very high degree of configuration freedom. The individual parts of each order must be manufactured separately. Numerous solutions, highly complex modularity and high customer involvement in the production process. This is the most complex type of product configurator.
  _One type of configuration can be found in plant engineering. The type of product configurator you choose for your company naturally depends on the complexity of your products, business processes and logic.

3D configurator - how your products come to life

A 3D configurator offers better opportunities to answer the key question of every customer: "Is this product exactly what I want?"

This is an interactive tool based on live 3D models and allows customers to personalize products and observe adjustments made in real time. An excellent example of the 3D configurator can be found at Guerlain.

Main advantages of a 3D product configurator:

• Increase in sales and customer inquiries
• Reduction of returns
• Increased customer satisfaction
• You understand consumer requirements and react quickly to market trends

Create individualized products with Shopware 6

From version Shopware 6 Professional Edition (also Shopware Cloud and Enterprise) there are options for designing individualized products - this is possible with the premium extension "Custom Products", which is available in the Shopware Store.

You can create product templates with selectable options and link them to existing products. The customer can use the selectable options to customize the product accordingly. Shopware also offers a detailed guide or video tutorial on how to create configurable products using this plugin.

The main functions of this plugin:

An example of a website that uses the Shopware product configurator to create personalized products is Geschenke-online.de:

If your company does not use product configuration in the example above, 1 product with 300 different parts lists or 300 different products, each with its own parts list, would have to be registered, which significantly increases the complexity of product development. And with a product configurator, there is no need to maintain different combinations of variants beforehand. So we can say that the reduction of complexity in product development is the main advantage of using a Shopware product configurator.

The creation of a Shopware configurator is a time-consuming and complicated task, which is usually undertaken by Shopware 6 agencies and of course depends on the combination of variants of your products. Since the price for the product configurator for Shopware is only determined after the exact assessment, the Shopware 6 costs can be much higher. It's not a cheap tool, but it's worth it. However, after implementing the product configurator, it becomes a very quick and easy tool for everyday use and a very meaningful competitive advantage for your business.

Our agency for online stores has been working with various e-commerce software solutions for years, especially with Shopware. We offer our customers various services related to Shopware: creation of a product configurator, design, further development and store support, creation of plugins, migration to Shopware, CRM, PIM. We use modern technologies such as Neo4J, ViewJS and others. Our References tell you more about us. For example, you can learn more about our Reference BachelorPrint, an example of a product configurator programmed by our Shopware developers:

Contact us, to obtain detailed information.