Print this page
Wednesday, 13 July 2022 12:47

Product Configuration Fuels Business Innovation

product configurator product configurator pixabay

Businesses worldwide are pivoting away from mass-produced goods and introducing personalized and customized products. The product configurator is one of the most important tools helping them achieve this new mass personalization trend.

What is a Product Configurator?

A product configurator is a powerful piece of software that enables users to choose product features that meet their needs. Product configurators function by running rules that guide users in completing tasks. 

Accurate Quotes

Instead of manually issuing quotes and proposals, companies utilize configurators to automate these processes, thereby accelerating the time necessary to generate a quote while cutting down on errors. 

As a result, organizations are able to drastically shorten the time to market.

Product configurators pave a smooth sales journey and an enhanced customer experience. Sales reps can manage product features and pricing, which frees them up from keeping track of a huge number of data points by themselves.

When to Use Product Configurators

A product configurator assists manufacturing businesses to auto-generate service data while reducing the possibility of error.

Also, large online retailers use configurator tools to enable all of their visitors to personalize items to meet their needs and preferences.

Advantages of Integrating Product Configurators

Product configurator software tools eliminate the possibility of errors and reduce onboarding time for new team members. 

Improved Sales 

Sales representatives have more to do than only turn prospects into customers. In reality, only a fraction of their time is used to sell. A good chunk of their time is spent creating quotes and proposals.

To simplify sales operations, businesses use a rules-powered product configurator. As a result, they can issue quotes at faster rates, significantly reducing approval time and onboarding of new employees.

Configurators enhance crucial components of sales processes, including dynamic pricing tactics, auto-generated quotes, and workflows. 

Fewer Potentially Dangerous Mistakes

Even though order returns are an inescapable reality for all companies, product configurator tools are reducing their occurrence across industries.

This is due to the fact that configurators prevent incorrect entries, irrespective of product complexity.

Configuration in Different Industries

Here’s a more detailed look at how product configurators give companies an edge over competitors.

Online Retailers

Online product configurators enable website visitors to customize their orders in real-time. Whether customers want to buy jeans or electric scooters, product configurators give them the ability to select the size, design, brand, and a host of other options.

The Insurance Industry

Potential policyholders are frequently asked to complete a health questionnaire when purchasing life insurance plans. A product configurator can revise or reorder the criteria and update the algorithm that calculates premiums.

Additionally, a single risk could be recycled across a wide range of insurance plans but with different features. For instance, the insured sum, premium ranges, or additional criteria for clients could be updated to meet the specific needs of policyholders.

Rules-Fueled Product Configurators

A flexible configuration solution that's driven by a business rules engine enables businesses to instantly react to the changes in the market and retain an edge over competitors. Rules engines run powerful conditional “if-then” conditional statements that give product configurators instructions on how to customize products.