Forest River Marine is making the boat-buying experience more interactive and personalized with its new 3D Boat Builder, a digital platform available across its marine brands, including Berkshire, Dockside, South Bay and Trifecta.
The platform allows customers to build their pontoon online and explore layouts, colors, furniture packages, engines and premium features, with each selection displayed in interactive 3D. Augmented Reality (AR) functionality takes the experience even further, allowing customers to step inside and explore the boat they created virtually. The launch marks an important step in Forest River Marine’s digital customer experience strategy. Rather than relying on brochures, color swatches and static images to visualize a finished boat, customers can now see their selections come together before ever visiting a dealership.
This helps buyers narrow down their preferences, better understand available options and arrive at the dealership with a clearer vision of what they want, the company said.
“Buying a boat should be just as exciting as owning one,” said Philip Podgorny, general manager of Forest River Marine. “When you’re shopping for a boat, you shouldn’t have to guess what the finished product is going to look like. We wanted to give people the ability to build their dream pontoon, see every choice they make in real time, and have fun with the process. By the time they visit a dealer, they’ll already have a clear vision of exactly what they want.”
Customers can:
- Design their boat in fully interactive 3D.
- Customize layouts, furniture, colors, flooring, engines and premium options.
- See every selection update instantly as changes are made.
- View MSRP pricing throughout the configuration process.
- Save personalized builds to revisit later or share with participating dealers.
- Use AR on mobile devices to place their configured boat in a driveway, garage, dock or other real-world environment.
- Explore options with confidence before visiting a dealership.
Once a customer completes their build, a detailed summary of the boat they created is saved and sent via email to both the customer and their nearest Forest River Marine dealer. This gives dealers insight into the customer’s selections before the conversation begins, creating a more collaborative, transparent, and efficient buying experience from initial concept to final delivery.
The launch reflects Forest River Marine’s continued investment in innovation and customer-focused technology. As today’s buyers increasingly expect intuitive digital experiences, the new 3D Boat Builder provides a modern way to explore products while strengthening the connection between customers and Forest River Marine’s dealer network, the company said.
“At the end of the day, we just want people to feel good about the boat they’re buying,” said Joel Hemze, sales manager for Forest River Marine. “If they can walk into the dealership excited and confident about what they’ve built, we’ve done our job. From there, our dealers can help bring that vision to life.”
The interactive 3D Boat Builder is now available across all Forest River Marine pontoon brands. Customers can visit the Berkshire, Dockside, South Bay or Trifecta websites to begin designing their perfect pontoon.
