amelia@sitch.report
https://www.sitch.report/members/automotive/brand-dashboard/volkswagen
Discover how every brand’s configurator stacked up, the six attributes high scorers have in common and unpack examples from leading brands.
Configurators are a pivotal feature for almost all brands today. Not only are they a key lead generation tool, but they are also critical for pricing information and vehicle exploration. For any brands selling online, they are a make-or-break part of the ordering process. So how can you make sure your configurator is high performing?
There is no one size fits all approach for configurators that guarantees success because all brands have unique needs and constraints that dictate how their configurators are developed, but there’s still lots to learn from leaders.
In this article, we’ll start with a quick overview of the method and then explore a breakdown of how all the brands in the category performed when it came to configurators. Next, we outline the six attributes we found leading configurators had in common. Last, we’ll get into the details of what makes five leading configurators work well.
Building a vehicle in a configurator was one of the key user task tests we set for the automotive category, along with requesting a test drive and ordering a vehicle online. We assessed the configurators across devices and scored how they performed in two areas:
For an experience to feel smooth and optimised, motivation needs to be greater than friction (ideally, a lot greater). In automotive configurators, where few tactics are used to enhance motivation, this meant leading configurators needed to be very low or no friction.
Want more details? Read about our method.
If you’ve read our State of Digital in Automotive 2024 report, you’ll know that while 87% of brands have configurators, only 15% fell into the highest class. In the chart below, you can find out who they were and see how the rest stacked up.
The margins between who fell into Legend and Leader were often slim, so all the examples in the top two classes have lots to offer when it comes to best practice. Once you’ve finished with the chart, read on in the next section to find out what the leaders had in common.
The higher scorer configurators had lots in common and we’ve boiled it all down into the six attributes we think make for winning configurators.
Integrates with other on-site interactions.
No one likes to repeat themselves over and over. Leading configurators pulled as much information as possible from actions the user had already taken on the site (e.g., model page selected or post code entered) to preselect and prefill where possible. They also did a better job of pulling information between conversion actions or simply make sure the next logical conversion action was always available.
Performs with no compromises across devices.
It almost goes without saying now that experiences should be developed to be excellent regardless of the device you’re on. Auto’s attachment to legacy configurators means this point is worth reiterating here. All the leading configurators were optimised across devices and had experiences that were as good or better on mobile devices.
Provides detailed and full pricing.
With a high-value, long consideration timespan purchase, clarity around price is paramount. In auto, it can be surprisingly hard to get a price for the exact spec of car you want right down to accessories. Configurators that provide this type of full price fulfill a pivotal user need and are also an important part of infrastructure for streamlined online ordering.
Keeps brand in the picture.
Configurators were one of the key website features where it was common for brand to feel weaker, but it is a pivotal experience. Leading configurators did a better job of bringing in a stronger sense of brand through TOV in copy and small visual touches beyond the overall design system for the website.
Feels up-to-date with the latest UX and UI approaches.
Configurators can be expensive to develop, so it’s understandable that brands want to use them for as long as possible. But beyond the brand degradation of an experience feeling outdated, changes in expectations around user experience and user interfaces mean something that was frictionless a few years ago, may now feel quite laborious to use.
Treats configured vehicles like something worth saving and sharing.
It takes time and effort to configure a vehicle. Leading configurators gave users easy was to make the most of that investment with more varied ways to save and share their creations. The most common of these were QR codes, reference codes, digital wallet integration, customised brochure downloads and digital showrooms to save configurations in.
There was no one brand that did everything perfectly, but we’ve picked five of the leading brands to give you a cross-section of different approaches that worked well. For each one, we’ll unpack positives and negatives of their experiences.
This configurator is clean, simple and smooth. It delivers all the critical elements users need. Among mass-market brands, it stood out as a configurator that did a great job of addressing user needs without barriers while never forgetting its job of generating leads.
Few step-based configurators scored highly, but this one uses steps to effectively chunk up a process that could otherwise feel too dense and overwhelming. Each step has a clear purpose and feels like it is required. It’s a simple, robust tool that feels very in-keeping with the no-nonsense branding overall.
A modern and intuitive configurator with a streamlined UI that is very full featured. It was one of the few configurators to include options beyond accessories, like pre-paid servicing, but it also had a few critical drawbacks, like an inability to save or share configurations.
Supercar configurators are a different breed because of the high-volume of choices required and Lotus had one of the best versions. Despite its sophisticated interface and visuals, it wasn’t overly heavy or slow, and it struck a good compromise between stepping users through the process and allowing them to jump around in it. It also had one of the better selections of extra tools to visualise the vehicle.
A minimalist, clean configurator that makes the vehicle the star of the show. While not intuitive as Lotus when it comes to dealing with the complex selection process, it was still easy to use. It used animation to great effect during the configuration process to spin and move the view of the car to suit what was being configured. This extra step beyond just changing imagery helped make the process more immersive.
