With advanced 3D tech and AI-based tools, the eCommerce industry is changing incredibly. While it is good news for online business owners, it also means keeping up with the changing trends to meet customer needs and maintain their competitive edge. 3D product visualization is one eCommerce trend you should get behind to ensure your online store remains relevant.
With 3D product visualization, you can enhance the user’s shopping experience while efficiently conveying the product specifications, including their dimensions. It can be a game changer for your online business in every sense of the word. And unlike some of you might think, 3D visualization is not just a game-like interface the user uses for fun.
Although it is one of the impacts of the 3D visualization capability, the intended use of the feature is strikingly different. It enables you to provide an immersive experience to customers while letting them know how the product will look and feel in real-life environments. Moreover, the 3D visualizations make you stand out from other stores still stuck on decade-old 2D product images.
The innovative and significantly more interactive method of product showcasing can help you build a loyal customer base. Your customers can use 3D visualization to explore products holistically and check how they fit with your home or office surroundings.
What Makes WooCommerce an Ideal Platform for Implementing 3D Visualization?
While 3D visualization of products is significantly effective in enhancing the overall purchase experience, it can take time to implement it. Several eCommerce (closed-source) platforms need to support 3D visualization out of the box. You may have to implement advanced customization to add 3D visualization capabilities to your online store.
Fortunately, WooCommerce offers one of the most influential and flexible eCommerce platforms for running your online business. The user-friendly interface and advanced eCommerce capabilities enable you to add advanced 3D visualization features to your online store. Besides, you can also access numerous native and third-party plugins to add custom and advanced functionalities to WooCommerce.
Advantages of 3D Visualization for WooCommerce
There are numerous benefits to implementing 3D visualization for WooCommerce, including an enhanced shopping experience. It allows WooCommerce store owners to make their site more interactive while conveying a realistic product view. As a result, 3D visualization for WooCommerce lets you boost the quality of engagements and the average time the user spends on the site.
It creates a domino effect where quality engagements lead to minimal bounce rates and enhance your store’s conversion rate. That is not all. 3D visualization in WooCommerce can also enable you to access the following advantages for your online business.
- Minimize return rates
- Enhance brand image perception
- Increase competitive advantage
- Superior personalization
- More comprehensible product information
How to Implement 3D Visualization on Your WooCommeerce Store?
Implementing an advanced capability like 3D visualization is better left to an experienced WooCommerce development company. Why? Because it may often require making customizations to the front and back ends of your WooCommerce store.
Nonetheless, there are some basic steps you must follow to implement 3D visualization on your online store. Below, we explain the critical steps in ensuring an engaging WooCommerce shopping experience via 3D visualization.
Pick a 3D Visualization Plugin for Your WooCommerce Store
There are several 3D visualization plugins and extensions available for the WooCommerce platform. WooCommerce 360 Image and WooCommerce 3D Product Viewer are some of the choices suggested by our experts. However, the specific 3D visualization plugin for your store can vary based on your unique goals.
Hiring an expert team can also help you identify and choose plugins based on your requirements. Moreover, you can even use specialized plugin selection services from reliable providers to ensure compatibility and zero conflicts between the different plugins. A talented team can customize the plugins to meet your specific needs.
Build or Source the 3D Models
The next step is to build or source the 3D models of your products. Obtaining these 3D models can be challenging if you are new to the technology. There are two ways you can create the 3D models of your products. The first is to do it in-house via advanced 3D modeling software. Unfortunately, most online store owners do not have this in-house capability.
The better option would be to hire an expert team and outsource the 3D modeling task to them. It is worth noting that numerous industries, including furniture and home electronics, use 3D modeling services to showcase the real-life visual model of their products. Seeking professional help lets you make your 3D models faster and launch them in your WooCommerce store.
3D Visualization Integration
After you create the 3D models of the necessary products, you can begin identifying and selecting the plugin. You can seek professional help to determine the best 3D visualization plugin for your business. After choosing the appropriate plugins, you can integrate them into your WooCommerce store.
However, you must ensure that the plugin works seamlessly with your existing WooCommerce system and does not conflict with the actions of other plugins. Moreover, the integration process may also require (custom) coding and technical expertise. Hence, it is advisable to seek professional help for this part of implementing 3D visualization.
Holistic Performance Optimization
After integrating a robust 3D visualization plugin or extension, you must optimize its performance. Besides, you must also ensure the integration did not compromise your WooCommerce store’s performance. WooCommerce offers a flexible system, but its performance can suffer if you integrate numerous powerful plugins without performance optimization.
It is worth noting that 3D visualization for products is often resource-intensive, which can ultimately slow down your online store. Hence, performance optimization must be an integral part of your 3D visualization project. Although it is advisable to hire a certified expert for this, you can also do it by yourself, provided you have sufficient proficiency on the platform. You can begin by minimizing the file sizes and streamlining the texture for the 3D models.
Iterated Testing and Refinement
The last and final step to integrating 3D models of your products into WooCommerce is continuous testing and refinement. It involves periodically testing your 3D visualization capability to ensure everything works properly.
It also involves checking the compatibility of your 3D elements for various devices and browsers. Besides that, you must also collect genuine feedback from users and make changes to address their pain points and enhance your store’s 3D visualization capability.
