Configure, price, quote (CPQ) software has been streamlining sales processes behind the scenes since the 1960s. However, traditional CPQ platforms have not kept pace with changing customer expectations and increasing product complexity. This is where Epicor CPQ comes in.
Epicor CPQ brings the CPQ process into the modern era through advanced visualization technologies. It enables sales reps, distributors, and customers to configure and visualize complex products in 2D, 3D, and augmented/virtual reality. It also auto-generates CAD drawings, bills of materials, assembly instructions, and more.
In other words, Epicor CPQ makes selling complex products quicker, easier, and more engaging than ever before. Read on to find out how Epicor CPQ is transforming custom manufacturing for today's digital world.
The Rise of Personalized Digital Sales Experiences
Before delving into the transformative capabilities of visual CPQ, it’s essential to understand the broader context of today's sales landscape.
The internet has conditioned customers to expect highly personalized and tailored experiences–even in B2B sales. Buyers now demand the same self-service options and interactive experiences they get as consumers, researching and buying online rather than through a salesperson.
These stats reflect this shift:
- According to Gartner, 83% of B2B buyers prefer ordering through digital commerce.
- 71% of buyers are willing to spend more than $50,000 in a single online self-service transaction, and 27% would pay $500,000 or more, according to McKinsey & Coompany.
Epicor CPQ is pioneering a new visual era of configure, price, quote. We’re bringing products to life through photorealistic 3D models, interactive digital showrooms, and cutting-edge AR/VR technology, letting you create immersive, self-guided buying journeys for your customers.
With Epicor CPQ, users can explore products from all angles and build custom configurations by dragging and dropping components into place. Game-quality graphics fuel engagement, establish deeper connections, and enhance decision-making.
Transforming Manufacturing With Advanced Visual Selling
For companies selling complex, customizable products, closing sales is often a slow, painful process. Customers get frustrated trying to visualize and understand all their options. Sales teams struggle to provide accurate quotes and follow up efficiently. Deals stall, draining your time and resources.
But imagine if your customers could dynamically configure products in stunning 3D visualizations. With just a few clicks, they could visualize, customize, and finalize purchases online or with a sales rep.
Let’s explore how Epicor CPQ makes this possible.
Visual Configuration in 2D, 3D, AR, and VR
Epicor CPQ gives customers an immersive, realistic preview of products tailored to their unique specifications. Customers can view a 3D model of their configured product integrated into the real-world environment rather than relying on imagination.
Customers feel confident knowing that what they see digitally reflects the actual customized product they will receive. Interactive 3D also improves understanding of product details, options, and spatial configurations, driving optimal decision-making and customer satisfaction.
Error-Free Order Accuracy
Epicor CPQ streamlines accuracy and efficiency in the sales process. As users visually customize products, the solution applies engineering constraints and business logic in real time to prevent errors, delays, and costs from incorrect configurations.
Essential sales documents like quotes, specs, and CAD drawings are generated in real time, eliminating mistakes and manual work for sales reps and engineers. Integration with ERP and other core business systems provides access to up-to-date product data like pricing, inventory, and lead times.
The process continues beyond the point of purchase. Post-sale, the configured product details can flow directly to production via CPQ connections with manufacturing systems. It’s a truly end-to-end solution that makes complex products easy to understand, sell, and produce from start to finish.
Real-Time Pricing Feedback
Epicor CPQ helps provide real-time pricing feedback as customers self-configure or collaborate with reps. As they make selections, the solution instantly displays updated pricing based on pre-defined rules, helping validate choices and bringing transparency to how each decision impacts cost.
Customers can experiment with different feature combinations until they find the optimal balance. Rather than guessing how changes affect price, they see it recalculated instantly after each component selection, which helps build trust.
Simplifying CPQ Maintenance and Integration
Epicor CPQ simplifies administration through an intuitive web-based interface and no-/low-code rule engine. Admins can easily manage products, rules, attributes, and other CPQ elements without IT involvement.
The no-/low-code rule engine allows non-technical users to define and update configuration logic as needed. They can make changes and customize workflows directly in the web interface without impacting integrations.
Seamlessly Embedding CPQ into Digital Platforms
Visual CPQ enables businesses to embed immersive product configuration capabilities onto their eCommerce platforms to meet customer demand for digital self-service. This helps provide 24/7 access to product customization and quoting tools online.
With a few lines of code, the CPQ experience can be added to any website or customer portal. Customers can then self-navigate 3D product configurators and see adjusted pricing in real-time.
Embedded visual CPQ guides customers through options, automatically applying complex configuration rules behind the scenes. Customers can easily customize and visualize products without sales rep assistance.
How Epicor CPQ Supports Advanced Projects
Most flashy visual configuration tools are built for straightforward products like sneakers and sofas. Epicor CPQ is designed to handle the most advanced projects and dynamic business environments. Our customers span industries as diverse as heavy vehicles, industrial manufacturing equipment, building supplies, and retail. Here are two examples that illustrate the power and versatility of our visual CPQ solution:
Company: Repligen
Industry: Biotechnology
Repligen is a leading bioprocessing company that has been at the forefront of drug innovation and production since 1981. It offers a vast range of products, including the highly configurable ProConnex® Flow Paths fluid management system with hundreds of customizable parts.
To increase the speed and precision of configuring these complex ProConnex® systems, Repligen implemented Epicor CPQ. The visual configurator eliminated manufacturing bottlenecks and transformed the engineer-to-order process to create an unmatched customer experience.
The results included:
- Increased Sales Efficiency: The 3D configurator enables users to design customized assemblies in minutes instead of weeks.
- Enhanced Customization: The visual configurator allows for greater design freedom, meeting each customer's needs and improving satisfaction.
- Instant Pricing: Salespeople and customers receive accurate pricing updates in real time, accelerating the sales cycle.
Company: Van Wijnen
Industry: Construction
Van Wijnen is a leading Dutch housing developer that goes beyond just constructing houses—they create sustainable, inclusive neighborhoods through major renovations, implementing energy efficiency measures, and fostering social cohesion.
Their traditional sales process was iterative, complex, and required specialized engineering knowledge. It involved manually creating customized sales materials, 3D models, drawings, and sketches, demanding high levels of technical expertise from engineers.
To keep up with increasing customer demand and construction costs, Van Wijnen turned to Epicor CPQ. It was the only solution that could handle configuring more than 200 properties simultaneously for a single project and more than 2,400 homes and apartments annually.
The results included:
- Advanced Visualization: Customers can visualize millions of configuration possibilities with state-of-the-art graphics that realistically simulate actual materials.
- File-to-Factory Automation: Van Wijnen learned about creating a digital twin based on the CPQ configuration and sending it directly to an automated factory—where the digital designs could be transformed into tangible, high-quality housing elements and end products.
- 50% Faster Lead Times: Epicor CPQ cut lead times in half by automating manual processes, transforming a project that traditionally took months into one that can now be done in under two hours.
Transforming the Future of Sales
Visual CPQ platforms like Epicor CPQ are revolutionizing the sales process through immersive product visualization and configuration. By bringing solutions to life in interactive 3D, businesses can simplify buying journeys, reduce errors, and drive higher conversion rates.
If you're ready to take your sales capabilities to the next level, contact Epicor CPQ today for a demo. See firsthand how photorealistic rendering and augmented reality can create personalized buying experiences, accelerate deals, and get your customized products to market faster.
