3D e-Commerce, and Why it Matters!

by Admin August 26, 2022

What is Your 3D E-Commerce Strategy?

Shopify, Sketchfab, and Amazon - and many others - are investing in the development of 3D e-commerce and as indicated by VentureBeat this medium of communicating products to customers is becoming vital to the customers shopping experience.

In most cases the rise of 3D e-commerce has been from solutions in Web based configurations or Mobile AR / augmented reality. And companies which have adapted to this most quickly have been in market segments such as furniture, the likes of Wayfair and Ikea are good examples.

While popularity for these type of experiences has grown, we are also seeing a much more integrated approach for e-commerce + bricks and mortar retail shopping experiences by companies such as Walmart.

In the case of Walmart incorporating VR into their stores is one such opportunity the company has been exploring.

Another interesting method being used to integrate the traditional retail shopping experience with an e-commerce style experience are in-store kiosks.

Fast Food chains such as McDonald’s have started deploying these internationally, seeing benefits in their customer service by doing so.

While the debate has been ongoing about companies like Amazon causing stress to traditional retailers, innovative retailers are finding ways to overcome some of these challenges by incorporating technology into their customer experience.

3D content and experiential assets are becoming more important to how customers experience products. Visualizing how something might look before you commit to buying it has certainly been a trend even since the early days of online e-commerce but it is now becoming far more involved as customers seek high fidelity in products they wish to purchase.

This presents unique challenges and brings 3D content creation companies into the e-commerce and retail space because as Arun Batra of Wayfair has identified scale of 3D assets is one of the biggest challenges towards growth.

Scale in this instance is associated with the number of products that are sold online and the multiple variations of those products. In most instances configuration style 2D tools have been used on traditional e-commerce websites to simulate changes in design, color among other things in several types of products from furniture and kitchens to car colors.

With the billions of different products now available online how do companies determine what products they should be selling with 2D e-commerce experiences vs. 3D experiences?

The value of products and the desired customer experience with the use of those products have been the two determining factors towards whether or not a product should be available to view or experience in 3D.

Studies in various market segments have measured up to a 60% increase in customer engagement when a product is displayed in 3D, and this can create higher sales opportunities.

It is worth noting however that not all products are suitable for 3D development, low cost or lower value products that are sold en-mass may not benefit from having 3D SKU’s developed, and this is where high quality 2D photography may continue to make an impact especially on sites such as eBay or Alibaba.

As it stands many traditional agency marketers do not fully understand the value proposition of 3D e-commerce, and it will be larger tech and social media companies that will drive consumer demand in this space.

For companies who do have high value products and can benefit from 3D content whether it be for web based e-commerce or augmented reality e-commerce, talking with a creative company to develop these assets is the best option.

Speak with one of our 3D AR/VR asset creation specialists today to learn more about working with Halo Renders!
Contact us here.