E-commerce today has completely redefined shopping, with many new players creating a globally known brand online without much offline marketing. The global e-commerce market share in the year 2022 was reported to be $5.7 trillion, which shows how people’s preferences are changing from buying products in brick & mortar stores to buying goods online. The pandemic redefined this relationship between brands and consumers substantially, and brands were compelled to introduce creative methods to showcase their products better and enhance the shopping experience for their consumers. The introduction of 3D visualization in e-commerce emerged as a game-changer by providing online shoppers with a more immersive and engaging product experience. With a 3D viewer, businesses can now provide their customers with a complete visual representation of their products, allowing them to view the product from different angles and make informed purchase decisions on the web without needing to install an app.
In this article, we will explore the importance of 3D product views in e-commerce and how they impact visual e-commerce. We will also discuss the key features and case studies of businesses that have successfully integrated it into their e-commerce websites.
What is a 3D Model Viewer?
Recent technological development has allowed brands to use 3D viewing technology and showcase their products better. A 3D model viewer is a software tool allowing users to view three-dimensional objects on a website. These viewers are designed to display 3D models of products that users can interact with, rotate, zoom in or out, and view from different angles. Unlike 2D images or videos, they are more engaging and provide an immersive experience to the users.
Initially, brands offered product viewing only in 3D and 360 degrees. However, today most known e-commerce websites offer “product view” in both 3D and AR. The benefit of using an AR & 3D viewer in e-commerce is that it allows interaction with the product in real-time and helps better understand the product features, design, and functionality.
Impact of 3D Viewer on Visual E-Commerce
It has a significant impact on visual e-commerce. As more and more brands start utilizing the 3D viewer for their products, they will realize the marketing potential it holds to attract consumers toward their products. By providing customers with an interactive and immersive experience, businesses can improve user engagement and product presentation, increase sales, and gain a competitive advantage.
Improving User Experience
One of the biggest challenges most brands and businesses faced during the pandemic was showcasing their newly launched product without a physical display. AR product viewing and desktop app web viewers emerged as a savior by offering customers a similar experience and, in some cases, a more engaging and interactive experience than traditional images or videos.
By allowing customers to view products in 3D, they can explore the product’s features, design, and functionality more effectively. This immersive experience can help build trust between the customer and the brand, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Better Product Presentation:
Attractively presenting products has always been one of the biggest challenges for the bands, as most customers decide whether to buy a product based on their first impression, which in most cases is the presentation itself. 3D viewer on the web allows businesses and brands to showcase their products more visually appealing. By presenting products in 3D, customers can view the product from all angles, making it easier to understand and appreciate its design, features, and functionality.
While the whole procedure will be substantially cheaper for the brand, it will help create a much better presentation than what can be made into a physical presence. This enhanced product presentation can help businesses stand out from their competitors and increase the perceived value of their products.
Increase in Sales
Unlike product pages with ordinary visuals, those with a 3D viewer have a 40% higher conversion rate. By providing customers with a more immersive and engaging experience, businesses can increase the likelihood of customers making a purchase.
Competitive Advantage
After the pandemic, most brands that wanted to enhance their users’ e-commerce experience started to adopt the 3D Web viewer into their applications and websites. Hence, it has become a key differentiator in e-commerce.
Businesses and brands can gain a competitive advantage over their rivals, who are yet to adopt this new visually appealing technique to attract more and more consumers to buy their products. In the future, the brands that still need to figure out their position in visual marketing and the adoption of new techniques are poised to face a heavy loss in their sales.
Key Features of 3D Viewer on the Web for Visual E-Commerce
More than just having a Web Viewer; there are some important steps that brands and businesses should take to ensure that the integration is working flawlessly. To provide a seamless experience for customers, businesses need to ensure that their product view has the following key features:
Compatibility with Different Devices
When you choose a service to render and integrate your designs, it’s important to ensure the service is compatible with all devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. It is a very important step towards making the experience flawless and accessible, as most e-commerce users use their smartphones to view a product.
A proper web viewer app integration is necessary. This ensures customers can access the product view on their Android & iOS devices, and get a consistent and engaging experience.
High-Quality Graphics and Image Resolution
As most devices, from smartphones to laptops, adopt a higher resolution screen, brands need to render their products in a service where the details are concise. It can be presented in high resolution. The high-quality graphics and image resolution give customers a detailed view of the product. This helps customers understand the product’s features and design, leading to better purchase decisions.
Interactive Product Experience
3D web viewers should offer an interactive product experience, allowing customers to zoom in and out, rotate the product, and view it from different angles. This allows customers to explore the product’s features and design in real time, leading to a more engaging and immersive experience.
Fast Loading Time
Various services provide 3D web-viewing services, and choosing the right one for your brand can be a hassle, but your preference should be a cloud-based service that can provide you with a faster loading and processing time. The services based in the cloud allow you to process high-resolution products quickly due to their highly accessible server structure, which is way faster than a locally hosted server.
Slow loading times can lead to a poor user experience and decrease customer engagement. It can prevent users from visiting your site again and leave a poor user experience on them.
Solutions for Implementing 3D Viewers in E-Commerce
Implementation can be a challenge. Therefore, we will now briefly examine these challenges and propose some solutions to deal with them practically.
Overcoming Technical Challenges
Implementing a web viewer requires technical expertise and resources, which can be challenging for small businesses and enterprises, making them vulnerable to corporate giants who can spend a lot of money on these services. To tackle this, businesses can use 3D visualization software that is easy to integrate with their e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify, and Magento.
Overcoming Cost and Time Constraints
It can be expensive and time-consuming, and finding a service that can fulfill your brand’s needs can prove impossible. However, businesses can use cost-effective 3D visualization software or outsource the development to a third-party vendor to reduce the cost and time required.
Examples of E-Commerce Businesses Using 3D Viewers
IKEA uses 3D viewers and AR to showcase its furniture products and a range of other products in 360 degrees. It allows customers to view the product from different angles, rotate it, and zoom in and out to see the furniture to its fullest details from the safety and comfort of their homes.
Another example is Nike. The 3D viewer on Nike’s website allows customers to judge the shoes and their features, making purchasing decisions easier.
In recent years, 3D product views in e-commerce have emerged as game-changers, providing customers with an immersive and engaging shopping experience. Brands can use it to improve their customer engagement, increase sales, and gain a competitive advantage over their rivals by providing customers with a better understanding of the product’s features, design, and functionality. E-commerce brands team up with PlugXR to create engaging online shopping experiences for their customers. If you are considering upgrading to a 3D & AR view of your product, book a demo now.