How to Build a Product Configurator in Excel

How to Build a Product Configurator in Excel

1. Create workbook with Configurator and Pricing sheets

2. Within the Configurator sheet, set up input fields for selections

3. Use VLOOKUP to get prices based on selection

4. Add formulas to calculate prices

5. Create logic to block invalid combos: =IF(AND(B4="X", B5="Y"), "❌ Invalid combination", "")

Now that you have a high-level overview, let’s walk through a complete step-by-step tutorial using a concrete example. Let's build a basic Excel product configurator — perfect for a small furniture business that offers made-to-order dining tables.

In this example, we’ll set up a configuration tool that allows sales reps to select:

• Table dimensions (length × width)

• Wood type for the tabletop

• Wood type for the legs

The configurator will then:

• Calculate the total price based on dimensions and selected materials

• Display an error if certain wood combinations aren’t allowed.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Prepare a New Workbook

Open Excel and create a new workbook. Name your sheets as follows:

• Sheet1 → Configurator

• Sheet2 → MaterialPricing

Step 1: Set Up Material Pricing Table

Go to the MaterialPricing sheet and create a pricing reference table:

Name the range WoodPrices:

1. Select the table (including headers)

2. Go to Formulas > Define Name > type WoodPrices, click OK

Step 3: Set Up Dropdown Lists in Configurator

In the Configurator sheet, build the following section for user input and results:

Now create the dropdowns:

1. Select B4 and B5

2. Go to Data > Data Validation

3. Choose List and set source to =MaterialPricing!$A$2:$A$5

Step 4: Calculate Tabletop Area

We’ll add a calculation row in A6 called “Tabletop Area (m²)”. The goal is to convert centimeters to meters to get square meters.

Formula in B6 should be: =B2/100 * B3/100

Step 5: Calculate Material Prices and Total Cost 

Below the Tabletop Area row, we’ll create 5 more rows.

A7: Top Price per m²
Formula B7: =IF(B4="", "", VLOOKUP(B4, WoodPrices, 2, FALSE))

A8: Legs Price per m²
Formula B8: =IF(B5="", "", VLOOKUP(B5, WoodPrices, 3, FALSE))

A9: Tabletop Material Cost
Formula B9: = B6 * B7

A10: Legs Material Cost
Formula B10: = 4 0.75 B8
* Assuming it takes 0.75 m to build a leg.

A11: Total Material Cost
Formula B11: = B9 + B10

A12: Final Table Price
Formula B12: = (B11) 2
Assuming you want to price your product at twice the total material cost.

Step 6: Add Conditional Error Check

Say you don’t want anyone ordering a Walnut top with Pine legs — you can create a simple rule that shows an error when that combo is picked.

Within the cell A13, add this formula: 

=IF(AND(B4="Walnut", B5="Pine"), "❌ Invalid combination: Walnut tabletop + Pine legs not allowed", "")

Download example file

That’s it! We’ve successfully built a basic Excel product configurator — complete with drop-down menus, pricing logic and error validation. 

👉 Download the example Excel file here to explore the setup and customize it for your own use case.

Why Excel Falls Short for Product Configurators

Excel is great for quick prototypes and internal use, especially for smaller companies, but it’s not built for customer-facing product configurators. It's simply not a great product configurator.

Here’s where it starts to break down:

Difficult to Scale with Complex Products

If your product has more than a few options or conditional rules, managing formulas and data validation quickly becomes a mess. As logic grows, so does the risk of breaking something.

Poor User Experience

Drop-downs and spreadsheets aren’t intuitive for customers. Excel isn’t mobile-friendly, lacks polish, and offers zero visual customization. It looks like… a spreadsheet.

Not Web-Based

You can’t embed Excel into your website or share a real-time link. You’re stuck emailing .xlsx files back and forth — which kills collaboration and slows down sales.

No Real-Time Visualization

There’s no way to preview what the configured product looks like. For anything visual — like furniture, apparel, or packaging — you’re flying blind.

Not Built for Customers

Excel might work for internal quoting tools, but it’s not professional enough for buyers. There’s no branding, no user onboarding, no frictionless flow from configuration to checkout.

No Ecommerce Integration

You can’t plug Excel into Shopify, WooCommerce, or your payment processor. There’s no “Add to Cart” button. No checkout. No tracking. Just a static file.

Prone to Errors and Manual Work

Manual entry, broken formulas, and lack of user permissions make Excel risky for teams. Version control is hard, and there’s no clear audit trail.

How to create a better product configuration experience with Kickflip

If you’re serious about selling configurable products — especially online — Excel isn’t enough. You need a real product configurator software that comes with regular updates, and enjoyable experience and advances features.

That’s where platforms like Kickflip product configurator come in. With real-time visuals, powerful conditional logic, seamless ecommerce integration, and a polished UI, Kickflip lets you build and launch a professional-grade configurator without writing code.

Here’s a quick guide to help you recreate this exact product configurator using Kickflip’s powerful customization platform.

Step 1 : Start your Kickflip free trial

Sign up in just a few clicks — no credit card required — and start building right away.

Step 2 : Create product images

Use Photoshop to create transparent PNG images for each customizable part of your product. Each material variation should have its own image. For example:

• Tabletop – Oak

• Tabletop – Maple

• Legs – Oak

• Legs – Maple

• ...

Make sure all images have the exact same dimensions to align properly in the configurator. The recommended size is 1200 × 1200 pixels. Learn more about creating your images here.

Step 3 : Create a product in Kickflip

Open the Kickflip admin and click on the + Product button to create your configurator. This configurator can later be integrated to your online store, within a product page.

Step 4 : Create Tabletop and Legs wood type questions

In Kickflip, customization options are built using a “question–answer” metaphor. Think of each customizable aspect of your product as a question you’re asking the shopper. Each possible choice they can make is an answer to that question.

We’ll start by creating your ‘Tabletop wood type’ question. 

Click on the blue + button. From there, pick Thumbnail as the input type and Image as the display type.

Within the question, we’ll create 4 answers : Oak, Walnut, Pine and Maple. 

For each of them, you can

• Enter the name in the Title field, 

• Upload the corresponding image you previously created under View 1.

• Upload a thumbnail image representing the wood texture. A simple 300x300 px image will be perfect.

Once these steps are complete, you can now create different table designs by mixing and matching materials for the tabletop and legs. 

Step 5 : Create Length and Width Inputs

Now, we want to allow users to input their tabletop length and width. 

Click on the blue + button. From there, pick Text input as the input type and None as the display type.

Name that question “Tabletop length (cm)”. Next to Input type, click on the setting icon, under Characters, pick Numbers only. 

Duplicate this question and rename it to “Tabletop width (cm)”. 

Step 6 : Create pricing equations

All that is left to do is to create the pricing equations to calculate the total price.

Within Kickflip’s product builder, click on the Pricing tab on top of the screen.

Under Additional pricing, click on Equations. Click on + Add Equation. The first equation we want to create is Tabletop width (cm) x Tabletop length (cm) x Tabletop wood type (4) x 2 

When you add table top wood type, you can specify the price for each wood type.

The next equation we want to create is 

Legs wood type x 4 x 0.75 x 2 

Using the same principle, you can specify the price for each leg wood type.

The equations will be combined to calculate the total price automatically.

Step 7 : Create logic rules

The final step is to add logic rules that block incompatible option combinations. In Excel, we could only show an error message — users could still proceed with the selection. With Kickflip, you can create rules that completely prevent those combinations from being selected.

To set this up in Kickflip’s product builder:

1. Click on the Logic button.

2. Click Add rule, then create the following rule:
   When Tabletop wood type is Walnut, then Legs wood type should not be Oak.

3. Duplicate that rule and update it to:
   When Tabletop wood type is Oak then Legs wood type should not be Walnut.

With just a couple of rules, you’ve ensured that incompatible options are automatically blocked, creating a smoother, error-proof experience for your users.

And that’s it — you now have a fully functional configurator that’s far more powerful than anything built with Excel. You can use it to sell directly on your online store, or, if you prefer handling transactions offline, Kickflip also offers a Configure Price Quote solution that lets customers request a quote instead of checking out.

Final thoughts

Let’s be real, Excel is great for a lot of things, but building a product configurator isn’t one of them. It’s clunky, manual, and doesn’t scale. With Kickflip, we’ve just built a sleek, dynamic configurator that actually works for both you and your customers.

You now have a powerful setup that automates pricing, looks great, and can sell directly through your online store — or let customers request quotes if you close deals offline. Unlike Excel, which is prone to manual errors and messy workflows, Kickflip keeps everything accurate and streamlined, so you can focus on selling instead of fixing mistakes.

Bottom line? You’ve leveled up from spreadsheets to a real solution built for growth.

FAQs

What are the benefits of using an Excel product configurator for businesses?

An Excel product configurator helps businesses streamline quoting, reduce manual errors, and speed up order processing. It’s flexible, cost-effective, and easy to customize without coding. Ideal for small teams, it allows quick updates to pricing and logic, making it a practical solution for managing configurable products and custom orders.

Can I use Excel to create a cpq for custom products?

Yes, it's a good idea to use Excel for building quotes. Use dropdowns for options, VLOOKUP for pricing, and formulas to calculate totals. You can also apply logic rules to flag invalid combinations or highlight missing inputs.

How do I prevent users from entering invalid combinations in my spreadsheets?

You can use IF and AND formulas to display warnings based on selected options. While Excel won’t block input completely, it can flag issues visibly. For stricter control, consider using platforms like Kickflip.

How Excel an product configurator simplifies internal workflows?

An Excel product configurator can help streamline internal workflows and the sales process by organizing pricing, centralizing data, and reducing manual errors. It’s especially useful for small teams managing quotes or custom orders without needing complex software.

Does an Excel product configurator offer a good user experience (UX)?

Not really. While functional, the user interface is limited — Microsoft Excel isn’t intuitive for end users, lacks visual previews, and can be prone to data entry errors. It’s better suited for internal use than as a customer-facing tool.

Can I use an Excel product configurator to generate a bill of materials (BOM)?

Yes, you can use an Excel product configurator to automatically generate a basic BOM. By linking selected options to predefined components and using formulas, the configurator can list required materials and quantities — though it may lack the automation and scalability of dedicated BOM software.

Why do Excel product configurators fall short for growing businesses?

An Excel product configurator lacks scalability, real-time collaboration, and user-friendly design. As product options grow, maintaining formulas and logic becomes complex and error-prone. An Excel product configurator may work short term, but it often fails to deliver the reliability and experience needed for long-term growth or customer-facing use.