Vendor Spotlight: Threekit
Founder and CTO of Threekit, Ben Houston, originally worked in Hollywood, creating CGI software that was used in films like Avatar and Game of Thrones.
Around 2015, brands started reaching out to him asking, “Can we use your technology to show our products online in a more immersive way?”
Ben obliged and officially formed Threekit in 2019. Since then, they’ve seen massive growth in companies wanting to show their product in a more dynamic and engaging way.
To learn more about the visual ecommerce company, the Threekit team answered our top questions:
What problems does Threekit solve?
In an always-online world where we scroll and scroll (and then scroll some more), we’re surrounded by visuals from Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, etc. And somewhere along the way, we all have come to expect a rich, dynamic visual environment.
The problem is that when we go shopping (B2C or B2B), the product visuals often don’t live up to the expectations we have.
Questions like, “What would that couch look like in blue, and how will it fit in my living room?” or “What would that purse look like with my initials engraved on it?” are not usually answered. This means shoppers need to find their way to a store or not buy at all.
To learn more about Threekit and Visual Ecommerce, listen to their episode on The Funnel: an ecommerce podcast—available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
How has Threekit evolved since its inception?
In the last year, we’ve tripled our headcount, launched Virtual Photographer™️, opened our EMEA offices, and officially brought the Threekit platform to life.
What are the most common questions that you hear from potential and current clients?
Potential clients usually ask us, “How does Threekit actually work?” It’s a new concept to most that we can use software to visualize products that previously needed designers and photographers.
What are the benefits of using Threekit?
We make it simple for companies to show their product in 3D, hyperrealistic images, and augmented reality. We do this so buyers can easily change colors, add features, explore, and build exactly what they want. When buyers see exactly what they want, they’re more engaged, confident, and willing to buy.
What does an ideal client look like?
We work across furniture, building and building supplies, luxury, apparel, manufacturing, and more.
How is Threekit unique in its industry?
Most eCommerce companies still use product photography or one-off 3D-designers. This makes sense if you only have very few product combinations.
Once you start talking about many more product combinations or customization, it starts becoming really difficult to manage with photographers or designers alone. Threekit enables brands to visualize and maintain their products themselves—they have full control to simply update and make changes on the fly.
Where do you see Threekit in five years?
The first and most important way we stay ahead of the game is by listening religiously to our customers, partners (like Blue Acorn iCi!), and prospects. Our roadmap is determined by these folks, and they help us build the future of the visual economy.
We are also part of the Khronos Group, together with a lot of other companies (IKEA, Samsung, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Target). The group discusses where the 3D market is going and how we can shape the technology for it.
How are brands and retailers leveraging Threekit?
Brands across eCommerce and B2B are using us. Here are a few:
Joseph A. Bank, a large suit maker, enabled a custom suit builder. Men can come in-store or online and build a suit to their exact specifications based on fabric, color, cut, lapel, lining, etc. Instead of a generic suit, customers walk out with a custom suit that makes them feel great.
Another example is BostonTec. They make factory workstations but wanted to offer prospects custom workstations based on their exact needs. The builder enables customers, sales, and distributors to create the product based on a huge array of requirements.
For more information about Threekit, visit their site here. If you’d like to speak with a member of the Blue Acorn iCi team about enhancing your customer experience, feel free to contact us.