Furniture configurator: 4 successful practical examples

Author: Elisabeth Sonnleitner

Imagine you enter a furniture store looking for a new sofa for your living room. You have a clear idea of what you want the sofa to look like, but none of the items on display meet your expectations. Frustrated, you leave the store without making a purchase. But what if you had had the opportunity to design your dream sofa yourself and customize it exactly according to your wishes and needs? A furniture configurator can offer just that - the freedom to get creative and design a piece of furniture that perfectly suits you and your home.

Today, in this article, we would like to present you with some inspiring practical examples from the furniture industry and take a closer look at them. Let's dive into the world of furniture together.
 

For which furniture is an online configurator suitable?

A configurator is suitable for many types of furniture, especially those that can be customized or that offer a variety of options from which customers can choose. Basically, a configurator is suitable for pieces of furniture where a certain flexibility in customizing the design is possible. Essentially, we distinguish three categories:

• Simple pieces of furniture: These can be configurators for sofas, beds, tables, chairs, desks,....
• Modular furniture: Modular furniture pieces are pieces of furniture that consist of individual, interchangeable modules that can be combined with each other. Each module can stand alone or be connected to other modules to create a larger piece of furniture. The best example of this is Konektra's shelving system. Whether you want a simple element to act as a side table or with many other elements to act as a sideboard.
• Room-forming furniture systems: Room-forming furniture systems are pieces of furniture specially designed to functionally divide rooms and create a clear room structure. Here, too, any number of elements can be combined with each other. As an example we can mention our customer Artis Space Systems GmbH with the brand Supergrid.

Advantages of furniture configurators for companies

The practical examples have already shown the clear advantages of a configurator in the furniture industry. In the following, the advantages of using a configurator are summarized once again.

Displaying variant-rich products simply: There is a wide variety of variant-rich products in the furniture trade. This means that customers can choose between different fabrics, shapes, materials, assemblies,....

• Online purchasing: Thanks to a configurator, countless variants can now be easily displayed on the web without the need for a multitude of individual product pages. Instead, all options and variants are combined in one configurator, which offers customers a simple and clear way to design their individual product.
• Buying in stationary retail: Due to high staff turnover, a low staffing level and the ever-increasing variety of products, it is difficult for sales staff to be informed down to the last detail for every piece of furniture. A configurator can help here by mapping all the options and knowing all the possible combinations. This relieves the burden on sales staff and enables them to provide efficient advice without having to be overly trained.

Efficient production: Furniture configurators make the production process more efficient. The ability to order individual pieces of furniture enables companies to adapt their production processes to the needs of their customers. This leads to a reduction in overproduction and thus lowers costs.

Customer loyalty: In order to retain customers in the long term, it is essential to create a unique shopping experience. But how can this be achieved in the furniture industry? You can't achieve long-term success with discounts and coupons. What about configurators? By allowing users to design their own furniture, they develop a close relationship with the products and the company. This can lead to greater loyalty and higher repeat purchases.

Higher sales figures: Furniture configurators can also help to increase sales. Since customers receive an individual piece of furniture, they are more willing to pay a higher price for it. In addition, companies can use a furniture configurator to expand their range of products and thus also address new target groups. Increased sales, increased cross-selling and a significant increase in the conversion rate are just a few of the benefits. Return rates can also be significantly reduced, since only those items are ordered that are actually needed and have been configured for the respective individual need. You can find more information in the blog article "Sales increase through product configurator".

Reduce catalogs & brochures: Are you still willing to spend over €60,000 each year on print products like brochures? These are now outdated and do not generate measurable leads as they do not allow interaction with the product. In addition, large amounts of paper end up in the trash every year. A promising alternative is a product configurator. Price and product changes are adjusted in real time, making typos a thing of the past.

Less consulting effort: A configurator generally leads to less consulting effort because it gives customers the opportunity to design and customize the desired product themselves in advance. The configurator thus acts as a sales representative who is available 24/7. The more intensively customers can engage with a product in advance of the purchasing process, the shorter the actual sales process will generally be. The better customers know and understand the product, the faster they can make their purchase decision.

Orders at the push of a button: In today's Internet age, it is easier than ever for customers to obtain quotes from various suppliers. Often, the offer is the last decisive factor for sales success. If it is too late or incomplete, the order can be lost. However, creating quotes is often very time-consuming. This is where a 3D product configurator comes into play, as it can significantly speed up the quotation creation process. At the push of a button, you get the desired result in seconds. No long calculations, no time-consuming waiting,...

Which companies have successfully used an online furniture configurator?

Practical example: B+N Industries

B+N Industries has been an established company in the US market for over 30 years, specializing in the production and sale of modular shelving and interior design systems. Among its renowned customers are McDonald's and Bank of America.

Challenge: The challenge with past projects was that customers had to rely on consultants and designers, which required a lot of time and consulting effort. They were unhappy with this, because they wanted to process inquiries faster, simplify the ordering process and relieve the sales staff. The solution was found in the configurator.

Highlights: 

• Quotation generation at the push of a button: By simply pressing a button, the time-consuming manual generation of quotations is minimized and simplified, as a quotation is automatically generated within seconds.
• Automatic creation of parts lists: As soon as customers have configured their individual desired product, B+N Industries automatically generates a parts list with all the necessary data for further processing.
• 3D data export: Once a configuration is complete, 3D data export can be easily performed. Architects can then reuse this 3D data in their own 3D programs, resulting in significant time savings.

Success figures since the use of the furniture configurator:

• Up to 30 % more inquiries
• Up to 50 % acceleration in the offer process
• Up to 18 % increase in win/loss ratio

To the Case Study "System Shelf Configurator for B+N Industries".

Practical example: Metallbude

Founded in 2020, Detmold-based Metallbude SK GmbH specializes in the development and production of designer furniture and home accessories in a timeless, minimalist style. The products, made of high-quality metal and wood, combine modern aesthetics, traditional craftsmanship and clear functionality.

Challenge: As a furniture manufacturer, Metallbude asks itself how to ensure intuitive usability so that customers have a smooth and pleasant shopping experience, while presenting the design furniture in a way that is true to life.

Highlights: 

• Augmented reality: To meet these challenges, Metallbude has integrated augmented reality in addition to a unique, interactive 3D display. In this way, the configured designer furniture can be placed in a real environment even though it does not yet physically exist. The selected pieces of furniture can simply be placed in the living room, hallway or office and moved around as desired.
• Real-time price calculation: Thanks to the real-time price calculation, customers can be sure that they will always receive the correct price for their customized piece of furniture.
   

To the case study "Metal furniture configurator for Metallbude".

Practical example: SUPERGRID™

Artis Space Systems GmbH has launched the SUPERGRID™ brand to create furniture systems specifically designed for agile work environments. Supergrid™ is the ideal answer to the needs of modern workplaces and was developed by experts in Berlin and manufactured by craftsmen in Germany. Well-known companies such as Juniqe or Lufthansa rely on the innovative solutions.

Challenge: SUPERGRID™'s high-quality furniture is mainly sold through architects and designers. In order to be even more present in this market segment and to consolidate the SUPERGRID™ brand, innovative approaches are needed. Traditional sales methods are no longer sufficient. That is why a configurator was created.

Highlights:

• Maximum flexibility: The SUPERGRID™ Configurator functions primarily as a planning tool that allows components to be assembled in almost unlimited lengths and in different directions. There is virtually no predefined solution space. In summary, this means maximum flexibility with maximum functionality.
• 3D data export: A simple button function allows the export of 3D models (such as STEP, DWG, DXF, GLB, OBJ, etc.) to be started quickly and easily, which benefits architects and specialist dealers and supports them in their work.

To the case study "Furniture system configurator for SUPERGRID™".

Practical example Konektra

Konektra offers modular and high quality furniture systems for office and home interior. These products can be customized to the customer's ideas and style, which makes the use of our 3D configurator ideal.

Challenge: Due to their versatility, the "SYSTEM 01" shelves offer an infinite number of design options, but this poses a challenge for their visual presentation. Customers are confused by the many choices and need a simple ordering process.

Highlights:

• Direct interface to the store system: As soon as users have configured their individual piece of furniture, the relevant data such as item number and quantity is forwarded to Konektra's store system.
• Ease of use despite countless options: Combeenation's configurators are so intuitively designed that users can immediately start configuring their desired product without any explanation. No training period is required and operation is extremely user-friendly.
   

Success figures since the use of the furniture configurator:

• 10 % more store visitors since implementation
• 90 % time savings in project processing
• 0 returns on orders from the configurator
   

To the Case Study "Furniture Configurator for Konektra"

Conclusion: Does everyone in the industry need a furniture product configurator?

Considering the changing trends and expectations of consumers, a furniture configurator is undoubtedly a valuable tool for companies in the furniture industry. It offers customers the possibility to customize their furniture and tailor it to their needs, which leads to increased customer satisfaction. Moreover, a furniture configurator can speed up the sales process.

Although a furniture configurator certainly offers many advantages, it is important to note that not every company in the industry necessarily needs a configurator. For smaller furniture stores with specialized products - unique items, so to speak - a configurator is not practical. Ultimately, the decision as to whether or not a furniture configurator is necessary depends on various factors, including the target group, product range, company size and financial resources.

Overall, a furniture configurator can be a powerful tool to strengthen competitiveness in the furniture industry and inspire customers.