And suddenly there was the catastrophe: Corona

Until recently, nobody could have imagined that a virus or another unimaginable catastrophe could bring the economy to a standstill. And this for weeks and worldwide? No, nobody could have imagined that. And yet it happened. It shows us as entrepreneurs that we also have to reckon with rather unimaginable things and should include such events in our planning for the company. The bitter truth is that companies in Germany, and retailers in particular, have not done this. Even minor disasters can threaten the existence of many companies. There are many conceivable reasons why it is suddenly and unexpectedly no longer possible to sell or present products in the normal way. Corona is only the most conceivable of these.

What are possible solutions for the economy in cases like Corona?
Basically, these are quite simple, reflect the ravages of time and should be normal for all companies that sell products of any kind nowadays:

  1. All articles must be available in the best possible digital form.
  2. In addition to the usual type of distribution and trade, there should be a possibility, or better a firmly established second leg, to bring the products to the desired customers in a digital way.

Articles in digital form
Unfortunately, many companies in Germany are lagging behind in the digital presentation of their articles in 3D or as 360-degree product images. Countries such as the USA are years ahead of Good Old Germany in this type of product presentation. Many companies prefer to keep investing in things that they already know and believe that this will drive or secure their growth. So they prefer to open the next retail store, hire the next salesperson or, if they are present on the Internet at all, invest in software at the back end. The list is certainly long and varies from company to company. The most important point of all, namely the product as such, is very often lost sight of. What use are all these things if the product is not presented in the best possible contemporary way? This by no means refers to normal photos, of which many online stores still present their products with just “one” photo. You can “show” items with a photo and have been doing so for more than 100 years, but in 2020? Today, products need to be “presented” in the best and most impressive way possible. And this is exactly where the article in 3D or as a 360-degree product image comes into play. All conceivable items can now be captured in 3D and presented to customers in an impressive way. In a time without corona, a company with a 3D presentation is keeping up with the times and making the best possible use of digital forms of distribution. In a time “with” corona, such a 3D presentation may ensure the survival of the entire company. Because digital sales work quite well even in such times or, as Corona has shown, even increase considerably.

Types of digital presentation
360-degree product images have been increasingly well-known and popular for years. Customers can get a good picture of the product through the rotating products, usually in one axis, questions are clarified by the comprehensive view alone, returns in the end customer area are minimized. Today, products are increasingly being captured and presented in 3D. The existing articles are recorded in various ways. In a 3D scan, the shape of the products is captured with a laser scanner with an accuracy of up to 0.05 mm. The texture is also recorded. The result is a 3D view of the product, which can easily be presented worldwide via the Internet. Another type of recording is photogrammetry. This also captures the shape of the item. This avoids problems that can arise with a 3D scan, such as reflective articles. Photogrammetry in particular makes it possible to obtain extremely impressive textures.

The product is not yet finished, but should be ready for distribution?
Of course, there are also solutions for such cases. If a product has not yet been fully created or is still in the development phase, it can be modeled in 3D with all existing data. In this way, products can be created on the computer that do not yet exist in reality. The 3D modeling of products of any kind is therefore an aid to developing products or to give sales the necessary lead time. With 3D modeled articles, not only the 3D model of the product is available, but also things such as product images in high-resolution form. This can save valuable time.

Scanmotion specializes in the digital presentation of goods in 3D or as 360-degree product images. For more than 12 years, countless articles have been digitized. Thanks to our many years of experience and our versatile way of digitization, we have been able to offer quick solutions for one or the other company, especially in the Corona period, in order to enable the distribution and trade of the respective products again.