Introduction
History shows us that in the late 18th century, people wore plimsoll shoes. These were rubber soles shoes that made a lot of noise, and there was no right foot or left foot. Then the US Rubber Company came up with rubber sneakers with canvas tops that are more comfortable and noiseless, called Keds. From then on sneakers saw an evolution that is rapid as well as diverse. Today it is possible to have custom sneakers with a few clicks on your computer.
Sneakers (and shoes in general) are a human necessity because it protects your feet against the surfaces you walk on. But nowadays sneakers provide more than just comfort. It is a fashion statement whereby men and women want to feel unique and different from the mass.
Today we have different types of sneaker brands, like Converse, Nike, Air Jordan, Adidas, and Puma among others. They rose to be the best selling sneaker brands in the market because of the different models of sneakers they proposed to their audience.
Statistics
The statistics below can give us an overview of the sneakers industry, and we can see that there’s an increase in the need for sneakers and therefore you should leverage on a custom sneakers configurator to give the best.
#1 The average selling price of sneakers grew by 5% in 2015, reaching an average unit cost to the customer of $61.15. (Forbes)
#2 Need is the most significant factor consumers have when shopping for sneakers, representing 37% of total sales. Cost is the other significant factor in consumer shopping habits, reflecting 30% of total sales. (FDRA)
#3 Revenue in the Athletic Footwear segment amounts to US$16,653m in 2019. The market is expected to grow annually by 8.4% (CAGR 2019-2023).
#4 Sneakers alone are a $34 billion business in the U.S.(thinkwithgoogle.com)
Advantages of using a product configurator
The advantages of having a custom sneakers configurator are numerous. Below are some:
Sales increase: where customers interact directly with the custom sneaker configurator, satisfaction is key. Satisfied customers do your marketing for you via word-of-mouth by referring their friends, and sharing posts about their customized sneakers. In return, you sell more.
Time saver: having a custom sneaker builder on your store will save up a lot of time for you and the customer, in the buying process. It will exclude every confusion or frustration that mostly comes up in customer service relations.
Target various people: you can have a wide variety of customers with different needs, for example; your custom sneakers can be suitable for company gifts and incentives, workwear, fan clubs and universities, events, exhibitions or even projects. Having it customized to the image of a company is the best.
To build your custom sneakers configurator, the principal things you will need are the images to represent the different parts of your custom sneakers and the WooCommerce product configurator plugin.
We will proceed with a step by step method on how to set up the custom sneakers configurator on your store and see your sales go up with a few strategic communication efforts.
Sourcing images
We usually recommend creativemarket.com, but you can find free mockups on mockupworld.co, freepik.com, psdmockups.com depending on the kind of mockup you are looking for. You can also look on behance.net or dribbble.com. The type of images you need to represent the parts of your custom sneakers must be in a png format. If you go to any of the websites mentioned above, you can identify what you need just by typing the product you are looking for followed by the word “Mockup” in the search bar of each platform.
Before downloading or purchasing a PSD mockup, make sure you check the mockup descriptions to be sure you can edit the colors and designs.
After it is done, you can then give the PSD mockup to your graphic designer to add the different colors you want to apply to each of your layer options.
For those not familiar with these terms, PSD mockups are made with photoshop, they are usually edited with smart objects where you can place your design inside specific smart object layers inside photoshop, save them and watch them convert to a realistic rendering.
For example, if you designed a juice label and you want to see how would it look like on a real juice bottle, you can use a mockup to do that.
The other option we highly recommend is that you hire a graphic designer to create the transparent images you need for the different layers of your custom sneaker parts.
The video below will show you the type of images you need for your custom product configurator.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Now that you have all your images ready to be used let’s move to the configuration of your custom sneakers configurator.
How to build a WooCommerce custom sneakers configurator
Now to build your custom sneakers configurator you need to determine the different parts you want to represent. For example, you will need to represent the variations of your custom sneakers with the parts like the vamp, eyestay, heel tab, heel counter, laces, collar, the foxing, etc… With the custom sneakers configurator, you will upload the transparent images of the different parts mentioned above, each part will be arranged and represented for the user to be able to build the sneakers of his dreams visually and purchase it. Let’s see how the custom sneakers configurator is built behind the scenes. —TUTO— We can go further in the configuration of our custom sneakers by adding additional features. Note that to use these features you need to get the pro version of the Visual Product Configurator for WooCommerce plugin. One of the features is creating conditional rules. It enables you to naturally show or hide the options or components of a product based on the customer’s selections. Another possibility you have is to create linked products. Which enables you to link existing Woocommerce products to an option. Once you link any of the published WooCommerce products, that product’s price automatically reflects for the option you are editing. If this option is chosen by the customer, the connected product will also be added to the shopping cart for the customer. You also have the possibility to add detailed descriptions to the custom sneakers options: You can add a description to each option of the custom sneakers which will show in a pop-up form upon mouse-over at the front end. We also have some add-ons that can help your customers do more customizations on their customs sneakers before purchase. In return, you can charge more on specific options of your choice, e.g. uploading and adding images or adding text can go for an extra fee. For example, the Custom text add-on helps you to set up a custom text field that allows the customer to add a monogram or a text to his custom sneakers. With the Upload image add-on, you can set up a custom image upload field that the customer can use to add one or multiple pictures to his custom sneakers, that will show up on the preview area. Allowing customers to save designs/save preview: Save designs: Your customers don’t need to start the process of creating their custom sneakers all over again. You have the possibility to allow your customers to save their designs for future usage in their individual account. Save preview: your customer can actually download the flattened image of their custom sneakers for use outside the WooCommerce product builder. Requesting a quote: If your customer wants a quote of the customized sneakers before purchase, you can allow him/her to get a quote and purchase later if needed. Social sharing: When your customer shares his custom sneakers on social media, it gives more visibility to your brand. People can ask him where he bought it, and the credit goes to you. One way to push them to do so is by giving them an incentive. Conclusion Now you know how to create your custom sneakers configurator using the Visual Product Configurator for Woocommerce. You can then offer unique products to your customers and see your sales increase. You can also offer any type of configurable product to your customers. If you have other products you sell that can be customized, the Woocommerce Product Configurator can sort you out. Also, check out other products that were customized with Visual Product Configurator for Woocommerce plugin in our list of case studies or watch a video of how it works. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section below. We will be glad to read from you. Don’t hesitate to share it with someone who might need it.