A small round table with a carry handle rising from the top and slanted steel legs, set up as a configurable product. Choose from four colours and two heights, then send the result as a quote.
Portable tables move around. One evening it holds a drink by the sofa; the next morning it is out on a terrace beside a lounger. That makes height the quiet decision behind the purchase. At 44 cm it lines up with a lounger or low armchair. At 60 cm it comes closer to the arm of a typical sofa, high enough to rest a laptop.
Furniture Configurator demo
Portable Side Table
- Product
- Portable Side Table
- Colour
- Black
- Height
- 44 cm
Illustrative product. The design and images are generated examples, not a real model for sale.
What you can configure
Clicking through black, white, dark green and ochre shows four of the six colours. Height, 44 or 60 cm, is chosen and recorded, though the picture shows a single height here. For a small accent piece, colour is often the reason someone buys it at all. Ochre and dark green are meant to be noticed, while white and black blend into whatever is around them.
- Colour: Black, White, Dark Green, Ochre
- Height: 44 cm, 60 cm
Why a configurator suits side tables
The ratio of photography cost to selling price is the problem with small furniture. Six colours in two heights is twelve variants, and photographing each costs much the same as photographing a sofa. The margin on each sale is far smaller, so many retailers show two colours and lose the buyers who wanted blush or grey blue.
A lightweight image-based configurator covers the whole range cheaply. One studio image per colour, plus a second for the taller height, puts every option on the page in the same light. Buyers compare real products instead of a swatch strip. Adding a seventh colour later means one new image, not a new shoot.
Small tables are also frequent add-on and gift purchases. Bundling them with a sofa, a lounger or a bedroom range is easier when the buyer can choose a matching colour in the same flow. Trade buyers furnishing apartments or holiday lets in quantity use the same tool to fix one colour and height across an order.
How a production version would be built
Simplicity wins here: one photographed or rendered image per colour at each height, twelve in total, all from the same angle. Layering adds complexity for little saving on a piece this small. You would send me colour names and codes, both heights, and whether any finishes suit outdoor use. On Shopify, colour and height become ordinary variants, so the configurator sits on the existing product page and feeds the standard basket. That approach echoes the image-based configurator from the MMU Knowledge Transfer Partnership I worked on, released in 2019.
Build sheet for this range
- Colours in the full range: 6 (4 shown in this demo)
- Height choices: 2
- Combinations to support: 6 × 2 = 12
- Images for one photograph per combination at 3 angles: 36
- Images if heights can be shown as separate layers, at 3 angles: 24
- Data each of the 12 combinations needs: a SKU or variant ID, price, stock or lead time, and any dimensions or specification that change
Questions about side table configurators
Can we show the table in indoor and outdoor settings without a separate photoshoot per colour?
Partly. The configurator images should stay on a plain background so the colour is accurate. A few lifestyle images, indoors and out, can sit beside them as fixed pictures rather than changing with every swatch. Buyers get context without multiplying the shoot by every colour and setting.
How do we make the two heights obvious to buyers?
Show a simple side view with each height marked against a sofa arm and a lounger seat. In a cut-out image, a 44 cm and a 60 cm table can look alike. A scale reference answers the real question, which is whether the top will sit at the right level beside the buyer's own seat.
Should the configurator say whether each colour suits outdoor use?
Yes, if your marketing shows the table on terraces. Painted and powder-coated finishes differ in how they handle rain and strong sun. A short indoor or covered-outdoor label per finish protects you from returns caused by a table left outside all winter.
Is a configurator worth building for a lower-priced product like a side table?
It can be, provided the build stays light. An image-based version on your existing product page, with no 3D and no custom checkout, is usually enough. Cost depends on the number of colours and whether images already exist, and my configurator cost guide sets out the main factors.
More furniture configurator demos
All furniture configurator demos
A configurator for your side tables
This demo uses an illustrative product. If you sell side tables, I can build the same experience around your own range, photography and ordering process, connected to Shopify, WooCommerce or a quote workflow. I reply to enquiries within two UK working days.