In today’s digital age, eCommerce is more competitive than ever. Selling a product is no longer as simple as coming up with an innovative or clever idea—it’s how that idea is marketed. With online marketplaces, like Amazon, Walmart, or Houzz, becoming more and more saturated as time goes on, a brand, retailer or manufacturer may wonder how they can make their product stand out.
The solution to this problem is CGI-based, 3D modeling. What was previously only accessible to large studios with high-end computer software is now a steadily growing form of eCommerce content that will soon become the standard in online retail.
As one of Tulfa’s primary services to clients, we’re ecstatic to share the advantages of 3D modeling, including how it benefits buyers, sellers, and the eCommerce industry as a whole.
Better for Buyers
More than ever, people love to shop. Every year, online shopping continues to overtake in-store shopping, and it’s easy to understand why. Buying a specific product is now as easy as searching for it on an online marketplace, making a purchase, and waiting for it to be shipped to you, often for free, all without having to leave your house. Convenience has and always will be the factor that drives any industry.
For all the benefits of online shopping, the experience of shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, being able to see what you’re buying before you take it home, is lost. At least, until now. As marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, and Houzz replace traditional, static product images with fully interactive, 3D models provided by companies like Tulfa, customers can get an experience that not only rivals, but in some ways surpasses, one in store.
CGI-based, 3D product models allow customers to view products from every angle, in striking detail. Fully interactive, customers can rotate, spin, zoom, and even see a product in motion, if applicable, all on the retailer’s webpage. Convenience aside, this extremely detailed view surpasses what customers have access to in most retail stores. Usually, products are fully packaged until they leave the store, so it can sometimes be difficult to view every detail of a product until after purchase. This problem is solved by detailed, 3D models.
Better for Sellers
One of a seller’s top priorities, if not its number one, is supplying customer demand. It is important to keep websites and product pages constantly updated with new models, designs, or creative advertisements. 3D technology is hugely beneficial to sellers due to its fast production rate and low cost, much more inexpensive than using studio space, equipment, photographers, and production software to produce traditional, static images inferior to CGI models in every way.
Another lucrative, mostly untapped facet of eCommerce is augmented/virtual reality. Sellers can use any CGI renderings to craft immersive, fully realized virtual experiences to take customers into their world like never before. Some retailers and marketplaces, like Amazon, are just now beginning to integrate this cutting-edge technology into their websites, but VR is long from becoming standard. This makes it an even greater feature, when properly utilized, to stand out from the competition.
Better for the Industry
Because CGI benefits buyers and sellers, it automatically benefits the eCommerce industry. As obvious as this is, the importance of this innovative technology cannot be understated. Static images have been used to market products since the inception of modern advertising. Their interactivity, utility, cost, and, at this point, novelty give 3D models the potential to become the new standard.
Competition is a difficult but essential part of any industry. Businesses always need to improve to exceed both their competitors’ and customers’ expectations. Cutting-edge technology like 3D modeling is the perfect tool to shake the industry up and keep things always moving forward. The moment competition fades is the moment everybody loses.
A Brighter, Three-Dimensional Future
We hope this article proves why CGI is an essential tool for ecommerce businesses going forward. As a major pillar of Tulfa, we certainly believe it is. We are excited to be at the center of the eCommerce world and watch this cutting-edge technology grow into the advertising standard. Our advice: get in while you still can.
