Development of the ViewIT Product Configuration Tool

消费者越来越倾向于通过互联网购物。对于企业来说，网上购物的一个关键问题是客户不满意导致的高退货率。因此，产品供应商越来越多地尝试开发新的工具，以确保客户在购买之前获得最准确的信息，以尽量减少这一昂贵的问题。目前的应用程序是为家具供应商开发这样一个工具，为潜在客户提供尽可能准确的图片，了解购买的物品在他们的空间中会是什么样子。申请人计划开发一个产品配置工具，该工具将在互联网上运行，并允许客户选择具有有限数量可配置选项的产品，从沙发开始，沙发的腿和手臂样式可以改变，部分组件可以排列，不同的面料和表面处理可以应用。行业合作伙伴ViewIT最终希望为客户提供完全可定制的选项，让客户在房间的模型中以3D模型的形式查看沙发。该工具将有助于家具供应商促进网上购物和规划，最大限度地提高客户购物体验，同时最大限度地降低退货和消费者不满相关的成本。

Consumers are increasingly likely to turn to the internet for purchases. One of the key issues for onlineshopping for businesses, is the high return rate due to customer dissatisfaction. Therefore, product suppliers areincreasingly trying to develop new tools to ensure the customer has the most accurate information possiblebefore they make a purchase, to minimize this costly issue. The current application is to develop such a tool forfurniture providers, to provide potential customers as accurate a picture as possible of how purchased itemswill look in their space. The applicants plan to develop a product configuration tool that will run over theinternet and allow customers to select a product with a limited number of configurable options, starting withsofas where the leg and arm styles can be changed, sectional components can be arranged and different fabricsand finishes can be applied. Industry partner ViewIT ultimately hopes to provide the fully customizable optionfor clients to view the sofa as a 3D model in a mockup of the room in which it will be placed. The tool will beuseful for furniture providers, to promote online shopping and planning, to maximize the customer shoppingexperience, while minimizing costs associated with returns and consumer dissatisfaction.