FAC T S H E E T

PRODUCT CONFIGURATORGiving buyers the power to build and manipulate products quickly and easily.

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Option and component management

Rule editor

Today’s customers increasingly expect products and services to be tailored to their specifi c desires and needs. They want to create their own products, customize the appearance, discover and combine features, or manipulate the design. The demand for individualized products has led to merchants providing product confi gurator tools that enable customization of a variety of product outputs. Off ering choice in terms of the key product features or components that customers care about adds real value for the customer and allows them to purchase a product that is unique.

For instance, shoe retailers allow buyers to customize attributes, such as side, tongue, lining, outsole, laces, or monogramming. Distributors of more complex products, such as desktop computers, give their customers the facility to customize features, such as processor, memory, hard disk, and many others. Car manufacturers let their customers select options across various categories, such as model, body style, engine, color, and interior.

In order to provide guided and intuitive product confi guration, product managers need to predetermine the pathway that takes buyers on a journey of product design and construction. They need to group options, defi ne feature relations, map product data, and establish confi guration rules. Finally, they need to make sure that the buyer is shown a rich visualization of what the end product will look like before triggering a purchase.

MODULARIZE YOUR PRODUCTS AND ALLOW CUSTOMERS TO CO-CREATE

PRODUCT CONFIGURATOR

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The Intershop Product Confi gurator enables rule-based confi guration of products. Using the Intershop Business Management console, the business user can select a core product from the product repository that he or she wants to make confi gurable in the online store. After defi ning this product, the business user can create confi guration categories (e.g., processors, memory, and hard disks) and assign product components to the appropriate category. This will enable customers to choose diff erent components in the online store that have been compiled by the seller using the Intershop Business Management console.

While adding components to categories, the user can decide if a specifi c component serves as a default component or if it should be hidden from the online store. By applying rules, product components can be enabled, disabled, selected, and deselected. In this way, a range of possible component combinations can be determined. Once certain components have been chosen, this means that other components can no longer be selected. For instance, the customer must decide which processor they want, because two processors are not possible in the same product.

When all the information has been incorporated into the Intershop Business Management console, users can compose their own confi guration in the online store. The confi guration logic defi ned by the business user ensures that only valid combinations are possible.

I N T E R S H O P ’S S O LU T I O N

Customers start the confi guration process in the online store by navigating to a product list, product detail page, or basket, where they can then choose the core product they wish to confi gure. During the confi guration process, the components become hierarchically dependent line items. Finally, the entire confi guration can be deleted or the quantity changed.

Internet and phone net work configuration in an online store (M-NET )

Car configuration in an online store (SMART )

PRODUCT CONFIGURATOR

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K E Y F E AT U R E SK E Y B E N E F I T S

[ Gives customers the power to shape the product

[ Offers a completely tailored product that cannot be found elsewhere

[ Increases loyalty by offering customers exactly what they want

[ A wide variety of choices increases order accuracy

[ Incorporates individual customer preferences

[ Simplifies sales of complex products

[ Increases the volume of repeat purchases and generates additional margin

[ User-friendly tool to build and manipulate products quickly and easily

[ Administration of bills of material (BOM) A product configuration engine operates on so-called bills of material (BOM) – a (structured) list of all components that can be used in a configurable product. For instance, with a desktop computer the BOM contains all the parts that comprise the computer (chassis, processor, power supply, hard disks, memory modules, etc.). The BOM includes a structure and rules to allow only certain combinations of components.

[ Basic product A basic product can be used as the starting point for a configuration. This product will be assigned to categories in the online store and can be found by browsing the catalog. Providing customers with a basic product to start with gives them guidance in building the required product.

[ Management of configuration categoriesConfiguration categories are used to group the components of a BOM. Either one or multiple components can be selected at any time. Components always belong to a configuration category, but can be hidden from the interface in the online store. It is important to determine which features are best suited for configuration and not to present all possible features, since this might frustrate customers. If configuration takes too much effort, it can lead to customers abandoning the process.

[ Configuration logic with rule editor The business user can define which combinations of components can be selected. Setting up rules for feature combination and creating relations between features helps customers to combine the right components without needing to worry about possible configuration mistakes. Pre-defined conditions determine which components belong together. A component may be selected, deselected, enabled, or disabled. For instance, a particular component may be enabled whenever some other pre-defined component is selected. If a component is disabled, it will no longer be available as an option and is grayed out accordingly.

»The Intershop Product Configurator enables business users to define rule-based relations between product components to determine which components belong together.«

PRODUCT CONFIGURATOR

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© 2014 Intershop® Communications AG. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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