3d strategy for retail & e-commerce - SPECIAL- Episode 35

Last week in my weekly newsletter, I briefly touched upon the problems companies will face if they don't develop a 3d strategy before venturing into immersive technologies like AR, VR, Virtual try-on, etc.

With this - '3D STRATEGY' Special,

I want to deep-dive & share some insights that may help you start on your company's 3d strategy.

At the onset let me clarify that 3d strategy may not be needed or apply to all types of businesses.

The focus for this episode of the newsletter is on e-commerce & businesses who want to adopt 3d tech like AR, Virtual Mirrors, immersive web, etc to promote their products.

So let's start with this video on 3d Commerce to know if your products can benefit from 3D technology.

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Next in this short article by Deloitte to learn about the challenges your team will face as you transition to 3d technology.

The simple graphs & charts used by the authors describe the various types of products & businesses suited to 3d technology.

the term '3d Technology' is an umbrella word that encompasses AR, VR, MR, a range of hardware/software/platforms used to develop immersive software solutions.

For those who are new to these technologies, the article refers to some of the technical jargon used in this domain.

The lexicon for 3d/Immersive tech is huge & it is beneficial if you add these terms to your vocabulary too.

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You will find it interesting to know why some online retail & e-commerce companies did better than others during business shutdowns in the last few months.

From the latest data reported by some businesses suggests, COVID has hyper-accelerated the use of immersive apps for certain businesses.

The key point to note here is, digital adoption projections made for 5 & 10 years in the future got realized in the past 4 months.

Till recently digital strategy meant web & mobile apps, social media campaigns, youtube videos & Google Adwords.

That seems to have made a drastic change. There are indications that 3d/immersive tech in a short duration has moved on from- nice to have to a need to have status.

If you are in the process of formulating a 3d strategy you must listen to this AR-VR Association webinar ( Audio only) where experts from 3d, technology, retail & e-commerce show how 3d tech adoption clearly is the next frontier for businesses.

These industry veterans are already helping companies of all sizes transform & drive business growth with 3d technology solutions.

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It goes without a doubt, you will face new challenges as you move your existing products from images to 3d/Immersive technology.

In this somewhat dated but relevant article Matt Wisdom the founder of TurboSquid tells what are the 3 challenges that you will face as you transition to 3d tech.

The author here assumes you already have 3d assets made for your products. If you are getting started then can avoid these 3 challenges.

I want to add the biggest challenge you are bound to face that's missing in this list.

It concerns the top 2 people who will lead the 3d transformation process for your business.

If the project lead wears the business hat ( as they usually do) the co-lead should be a tech guy with exposure to 3D/immersive technologies.

If not then you should hire a consultant or company that has delivered similar projects.

It goes without saying, the success of your project will always be tied to the capabilities of the team executing the project.

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For most companies/businesses who are thinking about 3D, tend to have a narrow view of these technologies or tools.

In most of my business meetings or on online forums too, most people ( Business owners, Marketing heads) usually root for either a particular brand of AR glasses or VR headsets or some 3d tool/technology platform without having any previous exposure to these tools or technologies.

In some cases, they haven't even tried it before.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, most tech guys who work on these projects & businesses who have made a transition from images to 3D know, it's not about a platform or tool or technology per se.

Foremost, it is always about user experience & the ease with which they can get their customers to quickly adopt a new platform that matters most.

It's not about the virtualization technology, it is about the content ( in this case 3D models) that attracts customers to your products.

So before you decide on the tools & technology, it will be important for you to understand how they impact the future of your business.

As we speak, a host of major players in technology, retail, and manufacturing like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, Unity, Deloitte, Houzz, IKEA, Lowe’s, Target, Walmart, Wayfair, and Samsung are working to develop standards, where 3d assets can be used across multiple platforms regardless of the brand or technology stack.

The internet boom, digital cameras & smartphones normalized photography to make it the pre-eminent format for visual commerce & communication.

Now, technologists are hard at work to make your smartphone generate 3d models with the same ease as clicking a photo.

If you are starting out with your 3d strategy, now is a good time to get tuned to this evolution.

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On the closing note, I want to point you to the basic process of how an image transforms into 3d objects.

Shopify is one of the e-commerce giants (along with Amazon & Walmart ) who are at the forefront of making 3d the new normal.

It will be quite instructive to learn from these pioneers if you mean to adopt 3d for your business.

This simple step-by-step guide will provide you the process to get started with 3d for your products.

The dimensions might be specific to the Shopify platform but the process will be the same for any other platform.

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With that, we come to the end of Episode 35, Find out what you missed out with Episode 34

Please give your feedback & inputs so I can continue to improve the newsletter.

Enjoy your weekend, Happy reading

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How can I help with your plans for AR/VR this year ??? Check out my work & connect up with me if you need help with your plans for 3d strategy for your business.

#Coldface