Product Configurators are available as part of a Configure/Price/Quote (CPQ) tool or eCommerce package and they come in many flavors and are used for many different purposes. From showing different colors on a T-Shirt to building Power Plants. Because of this variety it is helpful to understand what configurators are available and determine how much Configurator your company needs. Below are 3 ways to help you categorize what configurator capabilities your company may need

1. Differentiate Product Configurators based on the value of your Products / Services into Value and Volume Configurators

Value Configurator: This is for high value products e.g. a high end server computer. Typical attributes are:

• Product is not self explanatory and complex to configure
• Product has a high financial value
• Occasional users can’t use it without help from a specialist

Volume Configurator: This is for simple to medium complexity products e.g. a laptop computer. Typical attributes are:

• Product is self explanatory and easy to configure
• Product has a low to medium financial value
• Regular and occasional users can use it without help from a specialist

2. Differentiate Product Configurators based on the complexity of your Products / Services into Simple and Complex Configurators

Simple Configurator: Typical attributes are

• You use dropdown menus, radio buttons, check boxes etc. to setup your product
• You only need an online configurator
• Prices are not displayed during configuration

Complex Configurator: Typical attributes are

• Your products require visualization (e.g. 2D, 3D) e.g. for car websites
• You need an online and an offline version of your configurator
• Prices are displayed during configuration

3. Differentiate Product Configurators based on who will use your Configurator?

Internal Users – Your Sales Teams (e.g. Field Sales, Pre-Sales)

External Users  – Your Channel Partners (e.g. Distributors, Resellers), Website users (e.g. End Users)

In this case the complexity will obviously increase with external users. You also have to consider how external users will access your configurator (e.g. via CRM , your website).

After you determine what kind of configurator you require you may also want to look at the following examples to determine how complex your configurator requirements are.

What information do you need to show in the configurator?

Last but not least you should consider who will maintain your Product Configurator on a day to day basis in production. Will this be onshore and/or offshore resources? Who will do emergency changes (e.g. a product shows invalid options and these need to be removed asap)?

While there are many more things to consider the above may provide you enough information to determine if you should look on the lower or higher end of the available product configurators.