How ANKER Enhances Customer Experience in the Online Shop with a Digital 3D Product Configurator

Challenge - Large Product Portfolio Meets Technical Transformation

ANKER Gebr. Schoeller GmbH + Co. KG, based in Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, produces high-quality carpets for use in aircraft, office buildings, hotels, public buildings, and healthcare facilities. The family business has existed since 1854 and is one of the oldest carpet manufacturers in Germany. Today, ANKER develops versatile carpets for customers worldwide in collaboration with international experts in architecture and interior design.

Due to a multitude of models, their varying characteristics, and not least, their diverse areas of application (B2B and B2C), ANKER's digital product presentation often reached its limits in the past.

When selecting products, customers could either view models in the product finder on the website or sift through traditional print brochures. However, in both cases, the carpets could only be partially presented in their future environment. Choosing the right model required a lot of imagination and relied on the — naturally logistically complex — shipping of samples.

A Strategic Collaboration to Expand ANKER's Infrastructure with Smart Visualization Options

In search of a high-performance solution, ANKER commissioned RenderThat to improve their digital product visualizations and bring them up to the latest technological standards.

The goal was to present the numerous carpet variations as clearly as possible and to facilitate future customer selection.

Through its collaboration with RenderThat, ANKER hoped to achieve several advantages:

• less effort in preparing and integrating new models (scalability of the solution)
• higher quality product visualizations (through Computer Generated Imagery)
• individual presentation of carpets in their respective environments
• user-friendly interface and interactive selection options
• simplification of the selection process and purchasing decision

Solution - 3D Visualization Combined with a Product Configurator

After preliminary discussions, the decision was made to develop a carpet configurator for the ANKER website that would meet all of ANKER's requirements.

Customers can view the respective carpet models directly in the desired environment within the configurator, thereby improving product presentation. With just a few clicks, it would later be possible to display the desired carpet in "Office," "Rehabilitation," "Bank," and "Hotel" settings.

To obtain initial, valid results as quickly as possible, ANKER's product configurator project initially started with a reduced selection of carpet models.

RenderThat used its expertise to help define the various selection criteria for end customers and, in consultation with ANKER, also determined the carpet characteristics in the configurator. These included color, pattern, shape, surface texture, and sound insulation.

The focus was always on:

• Maximum user-friendliness and the most realistic representation of carpets in the configurator.
• Menu navigation and selection options were kept simple – with one click, the user can switch between "Product" and "Room" selection and view their configured model in their desired environment.

For each of the four environments, three static 3D scenes were created to give the customer a realistic idea of what the respective carpet would look like in that environment. As an additional highlight, the configurator developed by RenderThat offers a three-dimensional 360° view. Here, the user takes the position of a person standing in the middle of the room. With a mouse click, one can switch between the different carpet models.

Implementation - A Scalable Infrastructure with Maximum Flexibility

Once the carpet selection for the configurator was made, RenderThat generated digital twins (Digital Twin) on the computer.

For each model, the team had to consider different properties such as color, pattern, and structure – resulting in almost 400 carpets. By using four cameras: Top View, Main View, Close Up, and 360°, four images were created per carpet model.

Every model can be used in every scene, as RenderThat prepared the scenes to leverage as many synergies as possible. For particularly realistic product visualization, RenderThat performed thorough color proofing. Based on the most common color variations (these were previously provided as samples by ANKER), the team defined the exact color settings for the respective scenes.

With the help of an HDR reference monitor and a Light Booth, daylight, studio light, and store light were simulated, and after some testing, the appropriate colors were determined.

Result - Online Shopping for ANKER Carpets Becomes an Interactive Customer Experience

The product configurator is built as a standalone infrastructure, allowing its content to be rendered with three different layers via an individual script. This results in:

1. Light and shadow

2. Interior without carpet

3. Carpet

This infrastructure enables future models to be quickly digitized and automatically integrated into the configurator. The configurator assembles the three layers within milliseconds and visualizes the user-selected settings in real-time.

RenderThat also placed great importance on the smoothly functioning 360° view, setting the correct resolution and camera specifically for all-around viewing.

The new carpet configurator solution was exceptionally well-received from the start, both by the ANKER internal team and its customers. It particularly convinces with:

• the ease of use, which creates an interactive user experience
• the detailed digital twins of the carpets and the ability to offer users significantly improved product visualization quality
• quick access and content management of the different models, the 360° view, and generally smooth performance.
• its central position on the ANKER website, representing a valuable addition to ANKER's customer service and the existing product finder
• improved product presentation, which, among other things, increases end customer decision-making and satisfaction, ultimately leading to higher sales

As a digital marketing tool, the configurator is closely linked to both the product finder and customer service. Customers can switch from the product finder to the configurator with a single click, view the corresponding carpet, and order it directly.

‍

“The product configurator, developed jointly with RenderThat, is a scalable answer to some challenges in our industry.
The greatest added value: significantly less effort in preparing and integrating new carpet models. Now, the end customer has the full product selection available with a few intuitive clicks. Additionally, all 3D visualizations are of exceptional quality, regardless of light or environment.”

KAMILLUS WOJCZYK (Head of IT and Organization, ANKER)

The Benefits - How ANKER Customers Find the Right Carpet in a Few Clicks

• Product configurator instead of classic sample shipping: the new favorite impresses end customers with detailed digital twins of the carpets & an easier overview of carpet patterns, making decision-making simpler
• ease of use creates an interactive user experience
• online product visualization
• quick access and content management of different models, 360° view, and generally smooth performance.
• valuable tool for the website and tool enhancement for customer service

jan viohl