Merchants are waking up to a new era of customer choice. Using mass efficiencies, some companies are offering mass customization—letting customers choose product/services features and design to suit themselves.
Companies have found that individualized goods command a premium. Beyond that, they breed loyalty. Research firm Brand Keys has found that 30% of a brand’s attraction for customers stems from personalization/customization. That’s up from 6% in 1997.
- Clothes: Since off-the-rack clothes fit only about a third of consumers, there’s a lot of frustration with cut. Add to that customers’ desire to pick their own fabric and decorative treatment, plus the relative ease of manufacturing, and clothing becomes a natural venture for mass customizers.
- Accessories: While custom jewelry has long been an option, other accessories from handbags (Annawilliam) to ties (tiecrafters) are also proliferating.
- Cars: Manufacturers like Mini Cooper, Audi, and Scion let you customize your vehicle with both performance parts and accessories. Other vehicles are being personalized with aftermarket products.
- Food: M&Ms invites you to select colors, packaging, and message. Sovital offers custom vitamin blends. Other companies are pursuing the easier route of customizing just the package.
- Toiletries: Create your own perfume? Your own cosmetics? Or soap? Body Shop’s Invent Your Scent, Aveda cosmetics, and SAM Soap all let you play makeup artist.
- Other: Computers, music, postage stamps, credit cards, books, toys, dishware, ringtones—even tractors—come custom-made.
For even more examples, check out Customize-your-life.com, which directs you to dozens of custom product sites.
Photo by zenia.
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