For an increasing number of businesses online, giving their brand the ability to customize products and services may be the key to building brand relationships and selling more product.
When done in a way that authentically reflects your consumer’s needs and desires, product customization can create a positive and memorable e-commerce environment. This yields higher conversions, more revenue and, of course, brand value that lasts.
A company at the top of the product customization trend is Tiffany’s. Before product customization caught on, though, Tiffany’s provided access to high-resolution images of its online showcase to communicate the prestige of its business and products. Today, Tiffany’s offers product customization choices for items such as personalized gifts, sterling silver jewelry and, of course, engagement and wedding rings. For most heirloom jewelry, you may select hand or machine engraving and even customize the lettering. Inflexion has our own experience creating ecommerce customization websites including CustomGia where you can customize jewelry (take that Tiffany!).
Other brands that offer product customization online include: Nike and the ability to design your own shoes; eCreamery.com and the chance to create your own ice cream flavor; and, of course, Chocomize.com and the ability to personalize chocolate online.
In 2009, we were approached by Chocomize founders Fabian Kaempfer, Nick LaCava and Eric Heinbockel to help them market a custom chocolate business. The product customization tool that resulted was called “The Creation Station,” an ecommerce solution that allowed customers to design and order custom chocolate bars.
Since its launch in May 2010, Chocomize.com has received tremendous accolades, including mentions by Oprah, The Today Show, Mashable.com, The View and others. By offering product customization, their customers get involved in the gift-making process.
What has led these companies to incorporate product customization into their e-commerce websites? Product customization is in response to online shopping popularity and Internet advancements. Plus consumer research suggests the biggest reason why customers switch companies is because the old business is indifferent to their needs.
J.P. Gownder describes mass customization as a future trend that has finally arrived, thanks to customer-facing technologies and increasingly social experiences online.
What’s the right product customization solution for your business? How can you keep mass customization simple and easy-to-use? Contact Inflexion Interactive to talk about this growing trend for businesses ready to engage their target audience in new ways.
