How to plan a 3D product configurator before you build it

Is a configurator the right tool?

A configurator earns its place when a product has options that change how it looks and what it costs, and when the combinations are too many to photograph. A sofa in six fabrics, three leg finishes and two sizes is 36 photos, and every new fabric multiplies them again. One 3D scene covers all of them.

If your options are only sizes, or only a colour you already photograph, product variants with photos are enough. If your shopper designs a print, product customization is the tool instead.

Step 1: Map every option on paper

Before touching a 3D file, write the options as groups: each group is one decision the shopper makes, and each has a short list of choices.

• Materials and colours: fabric, leather, wood, metal finish.
• Parts: a headrest or none, round or square legs, a handle style.
• Sizes: only when the size changes what the shopper sees.

Name each choice the way your order team names it. The configurator's labels become the words on the order, so a name the workshop does not recognise is a question on every order.

Step 2: Write the rules

Rules are what stop a shopper from building something you cannot make. Write three kinds:

• Dependencies: choosing one option opens or closes another. A glass top only with metal legs.
• Exclusions: combinations that cannot be produced at all.
• Defaults: what the product looks like before the shopper touches it. Make it your best seller.

In Custivo all of this is set in the editor, with no scripting language to learn.

Step 3: Decide how the price is built

Price either per option (each choice adds its own amount) or per combination (a fixed price for specific builds). Most stores need per-option pricing with a few exceptions. The shopper sees the price change the moment they choose, which is much of what makes a configurator convert: no surprise at the cart.

Step 4: Prepare one model for every combination

A configurator does not need a model per combination. It needs one master model in which every part that can change is a separate piece, and every material that can change is a separate material. Parts are shown or hidden, materials are swapped, and the combinations follow.

Tell your 3D artist the option map from step 1 before modelling starts. A model built without it has to be taken apart later. For the file itself, our guide on GLB and USDZ lists the checks that matter.

Step 5: Make sure the choice reaches the order

A configurator that stops at a pretty picture has not finished its job. On Shopify, ikas, Wix and Salla, the combination the shopper built is added to the cart and travels with the order to production, so your team reads the exact build instead of reconstructing it. On other platforms, the cart step is built together with you as an integration.

Test it during the trial: build three unusual combinations, go through checkout, and read the order the way your workshop will.

Step 6: Launch small, then extend

Start with one product family, the one with the most options and the most questions from customers. Every combination can also be opened in AR, so the shopper sees their build in their own room at true size.