Thanks for looking!

Background

I am a software engineer (not a UX designer) and am helping a very good manufacturing client redesign their online store.

This particular manufacturer sells products that are configurable and can each have accessories and configurable as well. Occasionally, the accessories have accessories that are configurable. So 3-4 levels of configuration.

Problem

I am struggling to find a creative way to help them design an interface that is not overwhelming to the user. In practice, the user keeps drilling down further and further into product => configuration => accessory A => configuration => Subaccessory A.1 => config => Accessory B => Accessory B config, etc.

Question

Are there any established design patterns to handle complex, multi-tiered configuration? I am probably using the wrong search terms, but can't find many examples on line.

Of course, I have looked at things like the Nike website and various car brands, but usually that configuration is just one level deep (shoes may have different color schemes) whereas I need multiple levels (widgets may have different whatsits. Whatsits may have different whosits).

Any help is appreciated.