From fashion to food & beverage to technology, product customization are becoming more and more commonplace in brick & mortar and e-commerce environments.

While mass product customization can often add to production costs, it is a differentiating tool that can lead to higher profits due to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Further, rather than using historic data and industry trends to guide production numbers, businesses can reduce waste by limiting production to the items that customers are seeking.

With the advancement of online stores and the expanding ubiquity of customization services, clients are getting occupied with locally acquired, mass-delivered things and hoping to purchase one-of-a-kind items.

This urges the entrepreneur to make exceptional products for every client. To offer the ultimate customization option, you need powerful product customization software, which will give your business a competitive edge and set it apart from your rivals.

• What is Product Customization?
• What Are Some Benefits of Product Customization?
• What Are Some Examples of Product Customization?
• What is Customization Ecommerce?
• What is The Purpose of Product Customization?
• What Are The Advantages of Customization And How is it Supported by Ecommerce?
• How Can I Improve my Product Customization?
• How do You Customize a Product?
• What is Product And Service Customization?
• What Business Value Does Personalization Have in eCommerce?
• Why do Merchants Want to Customize Products?
• What Are The Advantages of Selling Customized Products?
• What is Customization Strategy?
• What Are The Advantages of Mass Customization?
• Why Are Personalized Products so Popular?
• Why Are Customized Products More Expensive?

What is Product Customization?

Product Customization or Product Personalization is a process of delivering customized goods and services to the customers as per their needs and desire. Customers can either approach a merchant to make certain customizations in a product or personalize the products themselves, exactly the way they want. The latter is what the online stores offer, where customers can customize the products online.

Read Also: What Does Personalization Mean for Customers?

Product customization has made a stand in the eCommerce market and has caught the attention of e-retailers. Let’s try to understand why the Product Configuration service has gained popularity among the eCommerce merchants.

What Are Some Benefits of Product Customization?

1. Customers Like It

Starting a business hugely depends on customers’ liking towards it, and the idea of personalization has been gladly accepted by the customers.

Product customization adds a personal touch to the product. When customers design it their way, the end product not just remains a product but a feeling gets attached to it no matter whether they are doing it for their own or for someone else.

Since customers like the personalization concept, it provides Brands with an excellent opportunity to excel in the eCommerce market.

2. Product Customization builds Customer Loyalty

One of the major benefits of product customization is that it develops customer loyalty. And there is no better way to gain customer loyalty than offering them full access to design the product as per their taste. The primary reason for earning that loyalty is customer satisfaction.

Apart from customer loyalty, product customization enhances brand loyalty. If you provide your customers with ample customization options, they will more likely feel attracted to your brand and would prefer it over your competitors in future purchases.

Product Personalization establishes a connection between the brand and the customers and improves customer retention to a significant level.

3. Get More Sales

Moving further to the advantages of Product Customization is that it brings you sales.

In the end, there is only one thing that matters- the number of sales. If you have made your customers loyal to your brand, sales aren’t going anywhere.

Customers do not hesitate in paying extra for a personalized item because they do not see it just as a product but something of their own. We can back this through a study by Deloitte which reports that 1 in every 5 consumers would not mind paying 20% extra for an exclusive product.

Also, as per Invesp, 59% of the marketers are getting a good ROI after offering the product personalization facility.

Product Personalization also encourages word-of-mouth marketing because if one customer feels totally satisfied with your services, he or she would definitely recommend your Brand to others. This way, you can expect a higher count in your sales figure.

4. Get Better Insights into your Customers

Adding to the benefits of product customization is that a personalized purchase gives you a more detailed analysis of your customer’s preferences, likings, and taste than a normal purchase.

When customers purchase customized products, Brands can collect that information and utilize it to offer products based on their previous preferences.

So, we can say that Product Personalization helps you know better about your customers and offers you an advantage over your competitors.

5. Take your Online Business One Step Ahead

According to some stats collected by Invesp,

53% of the online shoppers feel that brands that offer product personalization provide a valuable service.

45% of the shoppers are more likely to shop from a store that offers personalized recommendations.

The increasing popularity of product customization has made the online shopping experience intriguing for the customers. So, it is high time to start offering product customization services and take your business to the next level.

If you have an eCommerce website on the Prestashop Platform, you can consider using PrestaShop Product Customizer/Designer.

6. Increased market share in the gift business

With the introduction of technology, India’s gifting business has seen a transformation. Online gifting has exploded in popularity in recent years, with an estimated market value of $84 billion by 2024.

People enjoy providing personalized gifts to their loved ones. And personalizing a product turns an otherwise mundane item into a thoughtful present!

Offering a product customization facility helps you own the gift product industry as more and more transactions are made online.

What Are Some Examples of Product Customization?

If you are someone who is thinking of adding customization to your store and don’t know whether this feature will increase your sales, we have listed down some of the online stores that embarked on product customization to win loyal customers which helped them to stay ahead in the competition.

NikeiD

We all know Nike is a marketing company that also sells shoes. When they wanted to increase Direct to Consumer sales channel, they come up with the idea to sell customizable shoes to the end consumer. Customized shoes were sold for 170$. Nike not only increased their sales but also earned huge PR for its innovation in the shoe industry.

Nissan

Last year, Nissan introduced options for the buyers to select choose engine model, interior and exterior vehicle color, etc. Nissan Motor Co. Corporate Vice President Kent O’Hara projecting that connectivity, accessories, and personalization will deliver 25 percent of the company’s after-sales revenue by 2022.

Blue Sky

Blue Sky is the #1 planner brand in the USA delivering exclusive premium and personalized planners. Customers can upload their own cover images or choose from the gallery; can customize the name frame style, color, fonts, change interior color and format, giving the shoppers full liberty to design. This increased its sales by 20%.

Nutella

Product customization not just stopped with high price products like cars, household goods sellers like Nutella also added customization to their marketing strategy, allowing its customers to add their name to the jar. When they introduced it in the market, people loved it. Customers started to share the product with their name on it which created a huge buzz for them in social media.

Solid Surface

Solidsurface.com is the only online marketplace for the decorative surfacing industry in the USA. Imbibing features letting customers choose intricate details like – material and color, width and depth, sink quantity and type, where faucet holes should be, ink positioning, etc. has satisfied every shopper who was a part.

Susan Lanci

Susan Lanci Designs are a luxury online dog boutique offering dog accessories with a perfect fit, highest quality, utmost comfortability, superior safety, and of course style. After customization, the shoppers can choose to detail every small thing right from a collar to hook. This lead to a 9% increase in conversion for the brand.

DODO Cases

No one in their wild dreams ever thought of making iPad cases in a handcrafted leather case. But that’s what DODOCases Founders did for 7 years. One of the key reasons for a million-dollar revenue is customization. Earlier in their journey, they found that people love personalization. Customization feature easily placed them over others in the market.

What is Customization Ecommerce?

Ecommerce customization is the practice of changing an eCommerce storefront — either on the front- or back-end — to account for a new look and feel. Every change a brand makes on its storefront is customization; requiring either development work, design work, or another type of creativity. 

1. Content customization.

Brands everywhere are taking a content-first approach to attract customers. Simply having a product-market fit doesn’t work anymore — instead, brands must craft an experience around their products. This starts with having well-written, SEO-driven, and shareable content. Customized content can live just about anywhere, depending on where shoppers interact with your brand the most:

• Product descriptions
• Ad copy
• Blog content
• Email marketing
  

2. Cross-border localization and translation.

Barriers to international expansion are slowly being removed — now more than ever, U.S.-based retailers are starting to sell to a broader audience, including Europe and Asia. Customers in those regions won’t respond well to a storefront that doesn’t display their local currency or language.

At a minimum, brands need to make reasonable accommodations for international visitors with translation services and multi-currency capabilities. Furthermore, enterprise brands should consider a multi-site approach — where each region has its own URL. 

3. Customized retention & retargeting marketing.

After a visitor comes to your website and views a product, they’re already in the consideration phase — meaning that it will be a lot less expensive to advertise towards them and drive conversion, compared to someone who has never interacted with your brand before. 

This forces brands to come up with unique retargeting and retention campaigns to keep customers interested in products after they abandon a web page, or after they leave their cart unpurchased. 

4. Product customization.

If you have solid inventory in place, paired with the technology needed to customize products, your apparel, print, or electronic company can quickly become a good resource for teams and companies that need swag. 

What is The Purpose of Product Customization?

Product customization is the key to serving your customer base successfully. Not all of your customers want the same thing or use your product the same way. Product customization is essential for delivering a personalized customer experience to each segment of users, and can drive customer loyalty and increase customer satisfaction. 

Given the increasing preference for personalized or customized products, a large number of companies – from niche startups to expensive and well-established brands – are gradually introducing products that can be fully or partially customized.

While customization was previously limited to few products such as t-shirts or mobile cases, today, one can even get cars customized, as is the case with Tesla. Similarly, Nike By You lets customers customize their shoes – they can choose the color of the bottom and top of the shoe as well as that of the shoe laces, and even stitch in an inspirational message on the tongue of the shoes.

1. Increase customer loyalty

According to one study, “customization increases perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, customer trust, and ultimately customer loyalty toward a service provider.”

For any business to survive, it has to retain loyal customers. As not all customers are the same, and their wants and needs are different, a one-size-fits-all approach may not work for everyone. When the customers get the exact product they want from your brand and have the ability to design it themselves, it can drive drive customer loyalty and increase customer satisfaction.

With more customization and loyalty, the customers are also likely to purchase more, particularly if your brand’s customization options are different from your competitors’.

2. Drive sales

According to the Harvard Business Review, when customers can personalize their products, they buy more and are also more likely to recommend the brand to their friends.

For instance, in 2014, after Coca-Cola’s sale of total volume of soft drinks had fallen for the 11th consecutive year, the company launched its “Share a Coke”campaign. Under this, the beverage company began selling cans and bottles labelled with common names and terms such as “BFF” and “Friends”.

Coco-Cola also went a step further and invited consumers to request their own customized cans. With this tactic, the company’s sales spiked by 2.5 % in just 12 weeks.

3.Get better insights

Compared to their non-customized counterparts, customized products can help brands get a better idea of their customers’ preferences, and use data analytics to understand and satisfy these demands. Knowing what your customer wants will also give you an edge over the other competitors in the market.

4. Increase word of mouth marketing

Products that are unique are a great conversation starter, as people tend to notice something that stands out. For instance, July luggage allows customers to customize their luggage by choosing the size and color, and also lets them add the imprint of their initials on the luggage.

“Customers tell us all the time that people stop them in airports and on trains to ask where they got their suitcases. People are intrigued by the idea of their initials on their suitcase, and when they learn they can choose the color palette too, they get excited,” July CSO Athan Didaskalou told Forbes.

Similarly, if a customer is loyal to your brand and is satisfied with your products, it is highly likely that they will recommend your brand to others, thereby prompting more people to purchase your products.

5. Charge higher

Compared to non-customized products, consumers tend to pay higher for products that they have designed themselves. As the consumer perceives self-designed product to be more valuable than standard ones, they consider the extra charge to be reasonable.

The Deloitte review found that 1 in 5 consumers who are interested in personalized products or services are willing to pay 20% more to obtain them.

Offering partial or full customization of your products can give you an edge over normal products in the market. It can also help you increase customer satisfaction and word of mouth referrals. Get your creative juices flowing, and tap into this ever-growing trend to give your customers exactly what they want.

What Are The Advantages of Customization And How is it Supported by Ecommerce?

Product personalization allows building a relationship with customers and make your business seem authentic and humanly. This is not it. There are more advantages to offering product customization in E-commerce.

Customer engagement, satisfactory shopping experience, and impressive revenue can be achieved by allowing online visitors to participate actively in the product-development process!

1. Personalized experience
When the customers are a part of the designing process, and they can decide how the product should look and feel, it gives them a personal and intrigued shopping experience.Letting customers decide the colour, text, image, etc. of the end product helps in improving the shopping experience which is beneficial for the brand.For example, the Magento 2 Product Designer extension offers the web to print feature allowing customers to customize the product!

2. Increase in profit margin
Customers are ready to pay more for customization facility. They understand that business requires a dedicated setup for personalized product development with dedicated resources.However, a business can strategically plan a template and make the necessary changes only in it for each customization request.In this way, the business can charge more for personalized products and enjoy the profits.

3. Customers loyalty
Give customers what they want and how they want it. Fulfil their customization needs and they’re bound to stick with your brand.Loyal customers benefit in the long run significantly. Always agree with their personal preferences and they will have no reason to switch to your competitors.

4. Attract the Millenials
Win over the Millenials by offering product customization. They comprise of a huge portion of buying users. And as they are now coming of age, they are going to be consumers of goods and services for many years to come.However, personalizing goods and services for the millennial crowd takes more than just attaching a name to an email! To entice the millennial consumer, customization may be the key.

5. Cost-effective
Be it the fashion industry or gifts, the trends are changing quicker than ever. As a business, you stock a type of products and the next thing you know is they are out of fashion.Instead, the smart thing to do is get the idea of what products customers want, their preferences, and then develop that product accordingly.In this way, the business can cut down the cost of product manufacturing and decrease the chances of incurring a loss.Product only what is in demand, what customers want, and you are good to go!

6. Make luxury items attractive
When a customer is paying a huge amount on a luxury item, he expects that every minute detail of the product is as per his preference.With product personalization, customer satisfaction can be achieved. Moreover, it makes that item look more attractive by including things like the color of choice, graphics, etc.

7. More Repeat Sales with Lower Return Rates
It is known that the items that consumers are a part of creating are less likely to be returned. They have customized the products in a way they want. So it is understood that they are satisfied with the end product most of the time.Managing returns and its cost can be escaped when product personalization is offered in E-commerce. Moreover, customers are more attached to personalized products.

8. A bigger share in the gift industry
People love giving gifts to their loved ones with a personal touch. And personalizing a product transforms the otherwise routine product into a thoughtful gift!As more and more purchases happen online, offering a product customization facility helps you own the gift product market!

9. Get customers’ insights
Pay attention to what your customers are customizing in your product! It will tell you what they are looking for and where you lack it.Analyze the customers’ preferences, their likings and use this data to offer products based on it. Get an additional edge over the competitors when it comes to choosing an item!

10. Ahead of competition
It is simply a fact that businesses that offer product customization facilities are preferred over those who not.Get competitive benefits when you allow customers to personalize the product. Take your business to the next level and stand out among the competition!

11. Stronger Online Presence
Offering a customized product compels the customers to make a purchase from your store over any routine store. As this process continues, you get a boost in Google rankings and become popular among the potential buyers.Due to this popularity, you can also dominate the social media platforms and leverage its benefit for generating revenue!

12. Streamlining the Order Process
Traditionally, product personalization is a time-consuming process. The cycle involves understanding customers’ requirements, collecting samples, and sending them back and forth to the manufacturing team.A time consuming and tiring process can be avoided when a feature to allow customers to configure a personalized product online and previewing it on spot is offered!

How Can I Improve my Product Customization?

You can certainly boost your overall product sales by simply designing it in a personalized manner. Here are the five tips that will help you out to increase sales with it. 

Personalize Items With Names

Customizing promotional products with the customer’s name is the best way to engage them with the brand. It is the basic rule of bringing personalization into your marketing products and is very effective in terms of producing strong results. 

Many companies are utilizing this strategy to attract customers to their brand. It creates great value in the sales process and allows your business to increase the branding at a 2x rate. The fashion sector has specifically become the biggest beneficiary of this strategy.

The reason is that everyone likes their outfits customized with their names, providing them a unique, personalized attiring feel and thinking the brand knows about them. This increases the companies’ chances to attract potential customers toward the brand and gain a long-term lead from them while creating effective engagement. 

Use Customization for Special Events

You can also use product customization to boost sales on special events. It has become a common practice these days and many brands are smartly utilizing this strategy on events like New Year, Christmas, Black Friday, and more. The reason is that many people like to celebrate these special events while attiring according to the theme.

For events like Christmas, many brands offer an entire stock of apparel, bags, and other promotional products with a unique flair of personalized branding; it helps them increase their sales in two ways.

Firstly, it increases their brand recognition in the market and secondly, gives them the opportunity to sell out complete stocks of the said products within just a week. That is why marketers are continuously opting for this strategy during special events, precisely to create a strong interaction with the masses in a shorter span of time.    

Offer Customized Products With Discounts

It is a known fact that marketers can extract a lot of sales with the power of the right product discounts. Looking at the current trend, discounts on completely customized products have therefore got more chances to increase sales. The fashion industry is indeed reaping huge benefits and sales by using this exact technique.

The reason is that it certainly becomes very catchy when you hear about an outlet offering discounts on customized products. It brings more value to the discount offers and attracts masses in the community to get their favorite items while saving big on the orders. 

Offer Full Product Customization on Online Platforms

The trend of online shopping is surging day by day, as users from around the world are preferring to shop for their favorite products from smartphones, laptops, etc. To take full advantage of this booming trend, you can grab the consumers’ interest by offering them full product customization on your e-commerce platforms.

This is quite a unique feature, a majority of the e-commerce websites aren’t still offering this service. It can certainly allow you to engage masses in the community to shop from your website. Ranging from custom clothing to corporate gifts, your web portal can win big in the industry by offering full customization features at better prices. 

Target Corporate Sector With Specific Promotional Items

The usage of promotional products in the corporate sector has become a norm these days. Many companies are now finding it easy to reach their customers with a specific set of promotional items.

You can certainly grab this opportunity and can offer the corporate sector a specialized line of customized products fitting their branding requirements. This list can include varieties of products such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, keychains, tumblers, and more others.

All of these items are vastly used by companies in different types of promotional activities, hence you can easily take the advantage of this trend by offering them full custom options.

How do You Customize a Product?

Personalized and customized products can help smaller ecommerce businesses stay ahead.

Personalization can be simple as packaging a group of items as custom “kit” or providing engraved plates or quality vinyl decals.

Nike offers customized shoes on its website. Shoppers can, on select styles, choose the color of nearly every element and even name the shoe.

Nike even lets customers choose the swoosh color on select shoes!

To be sure, smaller sites are not Nike. But there are many opportunities to provide a similar experience.

Personalize common items. Investing in a quality decal printer (as well as training for the application process) can turn a basic phone case into a work of one’s own art. CaseApp, for example, provides high-end solutions, but most any merchant could produce similar results with minimal investment.

Allowing customers to upload their designs turns the most basic products into works of art, as shown in this example from CaseApp.

Not ready for shoppers to upload their designs? Start small by providing a selection of compelling clipart and fonts for custom creations. Many online sellers do this with good results.

This water bottle on Amazon includes the ability to add a name.

Offer engraving or engraved plate applications. This classic personalization tactic has proved successful for many retailers selling gift items. If you’re not ready to invest in the equipment, consider partnering with a local trophy shop.

Offer kit-building. Bundling accessories as part of the product solves two customer pain points: not realizing an accessory (such as a cable) is necessary and not knowing which accessory to purchase. This is similar to how Apple sells computers. Beyond the internal configuration, shoppers select the mouse and additional software.

Apple presents add-ons to its computer offers as part of the customization process.

Customize accessories. Personalize a handbag, for example, by including the buyer’s initials on a purse charm that you attach before shipping. Similarly, keychains with a buyer’s initial can be attached to backpacks, sporting goods, and zippered coats.

Offer simple monograms. Applying pre-made monograms can also be a winning solution. Some of the latest include adhesive metal letters that will withstand extreme weather and sunlight.

What is Product And Service Customization?

Some hotel chains have understood the significance of getting to know the preferences and needs of their guests. However, by failing to determine which data should be collected and the way in which this should be done, they have come to the conclusion that the concept is wrong or that it cannot be applied to the industry.

Customized services have been instrumental in attracting guests and establishing a long-term relationship with them, for they have a positive effect on the guests’ level of satisfaction and on the degree of comfort experienced during their stay.

When a guest lacks something, this is translated into a need that must be met through a specific service. In turn, the guest has certain requirements as to the manner in which such service should be provided.

Customized service is based on both adapting the qualities and properties of a service to a specific guest and determining the guests’ expectations regarding the way in which such service should be provided.

Customized service demands more time and dedication, as well as permanent contact with the guests, so as to be able to get to know their requirements and their expectations regarding the services offered. The persons in charge of offering customized service must have at their disposal all the theoretical and practical tools needed for such purpose.

Let’s analyze some of the characteristics of customized service:

1- Close contact with the guest: It is necessary to have as much information on the guest as possible before, during, and even after the guest’s stay; therefore, the person in charge of delivering customized service must be allowed the time and resources needed to such end.

2- Flexibility: Guests’ needs often generate the creation of a new service or the introduction of changes that had not been contemplated; therefore, they may modify existing regulations and policies. The secret lies in flexibility: looking for ways to satisfy the guests’ needs without significantly affecting the business.

3- Creativity: A key element of customized service is offering something that no one has offered before, or doing it in a different way. This requires ongoing market research on international business trends as well as the analysis of the guests’ opinion on the services offered and of guest’s suggestions.

4- Adaptability: Service has to be adapted to each individual guest. This is a major factor to be considered when creating new services, ensuring that they offer an acceptable range of adaptability.

Customized services offer the following advantages, among other:

1. The description of the primary and secondary qualities of service for each guest.
2. The determination of the level or degree of service quality for each guest.
3. Service homogenization
4. Knowledge of the guests’ needs, so that they can be anticipated
5. Increased knowledge of the guest
6. Positive effect on guest retention rates and brand loyalty

What Business Value Does Personalization Have in eCommerce?

1. Increase Sales by Improving Conversions

According to a study conducted by Demand Gen, Leads who are nurtured with targeted content produce a 20 percent increase in sales opportunities. Simple and straightforward, personalization helps you better target your customers and catch their attention long enough to entice a sale.

In Psychology, there is a concept called, “Selective Attention” – it is defined as an act of focusing on a particular object for a period of time while simultaneously ignoring irrelevant information that is also occurring. In a research, it was found that our focus and attention is naturally inclined towards things that we value or are invested in. The consumers today are extremely volatile and have a very little attention span; therefore, needless to say, your window of opportunity is also as limited.

Personalization can help businesses improve conversions by presenting the information, you want to share with them, in a manner relevant to them. Adopting a focused approach, customized to their behavior and likings, to promote a particular product will definitely appeal them and helps in a successful transaction. Consider this – according to a study by Infosys, 86% of consumers and 96% of retailers said that personalization has some impact on their purchase decisions.

2. Increase in Average Order Size

With specific related information flowing out to your customers, there is a higher chance of them indulging in shopping and buying more per visit. Consider this – A user who is looking to buy a laptop from your website can easily be engaged for accessories such as the laptop bag, a mouse, a cooling pad etc.

At a strategic point of nearly completing the sale, if you could throw in a few product recommendations the chances of you being able to sell more products, in the same transaction, go up significantly.

3. Increased Engagement with your Website (read Brand)

We have already seen how frustrating a disjointed connection with a website can be. If your customer is able to relate to your website better, he or she will automatically spend more time on it and is also tempted to come back in the future.

According to a research, nearly 60% of customers prefer it if an online store remembers their contact details and purchase information. The increased engagement directly adds to the bottom line of the company and also save you marketing dollars that brands spend in ads to increase customer engagement.

In a research conducted by HubSpot, it was found that Calls-to-action targeted to the user had a 42 percent higher view-to-submission rate than calls-to-action that were the same for all visitors.

4. Improves Customer Experience

eCommerce personalization helps build a long-term relationship with consumers through customized landing pages, targeted ads, and curated email messaging, which helps users find specific content that appeals to their needs. This projects the businesses in the light of being customer centric as against business-centric. This benefits businesses by improving customer satisfaction and the lifetime value associated with each customer.

5. Improves Customer Loyalty

A personalized user experience makes you customers feel special by demonstrating that your company and actively listens to them and puts in the effort to make their lives easier. “A study by Exact Target and Forrester Consulting found that 84% of marketers believe that personalization positively impacts customer retention and loyalty”.

A loyal customer can effortlessly be lured into more business and not just by customer alone – for most brands loyal customers are their biggest influencers and brand advocates who not only purchase the products themselves but also recommend them others. According to a study, reducing attrition by just 5 percent can boost profits by 25 percent to 80 percent. All of this paves the way to a healthy sustainable online business environment.

6. Gives you Competitive Advantage

With the internet teeming with competition, what can possibly differentiate your website from your competitor is the user experience you offer your customer. eCommerce personalization helps you arrive at just that; it is but the obvious that a friendlier eCommerce website that appeals on a higher ground to the user.

Why do Merchants Want to Customize Products?

Here are some reasons why some merchants include product customization in their marketing campaigns:

To Build Customer Loyalty

Building customer loyalty is one of the reasons you should include customized products in your marketing plan. Suppose your clients receive the exact products they want from your business, there’s a high chance they’d come back again and again.

If you have customization options that are different from those of your competitors, clients may develop loyalty to your brand. If customers become loyal to your business, they’re likely to recommend it to their friends and relatives. This would allow you to generate more leads, thus increasing your chances of generating more sales. 

To improve loyalty through customization, it’s vital to have options that are more unique and eye-catching than what your competitors offer. Suppose your business rival is offering their customers an option to have personalized words printed on the back of their black hoodie products.

You can beat the competition by allowing customers’ first names and offering different color selections. The more you have unique customization options, the more you may improve customer loyalty, and this increases the efficiency of your marketing strategy. 

To Improve Customer Satisfaction 

Delivering tailor-made products is vital for creating a personalized customer experience for each section of clients, thus improving customer satisfaction. 

To help enhance your customers’ satisfaction, the following are some points to remember: 

• All customers are different. Whether you have a physical or online store, your customer base may have distinct needs and preferences. Understanding this may help you develop a product that’s as suitable to many people as possible. But it’s important to understand that the more you try to appeal to everyone, the more you might appeal to no one. So instead, try to build amazing products for each specific section of users.
• Customers may prefer products created just for them. Tailor-made products are a great marketing plan as they make customers feel appreciated and happier. Remember, happy customers could lead to repeat customers, thus improving your profit margin.

To Have A Better Customer Insight

You may use customer data, such as trends and customers’ buying habits, to improve the efficiency of your marketing strategy. Through this, you may develop better customer insight, giving you a strong competitive advantage.

If you have no product customization options, you’d be able to have access only to information on products you have in stock. But through customization, you may be able to understand your customers better, giving you an upper hand over your competitor. 

Because of technological advancements, such as data analytics, you may use the gathered information to deliver products as per your customers’ needs and expectations. In the coming years, artificial intelligence technologies may let you utilize customer customization habits to improve your marketing strategy and anticipate the next big sale trend.

For Increased Sales

While it’s cheaper to order products in just one basic form, you may charge more for the customized products. It’s suggested that customers may be willing to pay more for customized products, which could increase your profit margin. 

Another way product personalization may increase your sales is through a word-of-mouth marketing strategy. There’s a high chance a satisfied customer may recommend your brand to family, friends, and acquaintances, thus helping increase your sales and profits.

What Are The Advantages of Selling Customized Products?

Brands are very aware that personalization creates value for customers, but it’s not just huge high-street names that are generating revenue from product customization. It’s easier than ever to start a business, since online stores remove overheads associated with the traditional retail model.

Here are some more reasons why product personalization is taking over.

1. Generate more sales

Personalizing products doesn’t just help increase sales, it also keeps your customers satisfied, which promotes loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations.

A study by Deloitte suggests that, on average, in different retail sectors, 36% of consumers would consider buying customized products or services. If that figure surprises you, just listen to this:1 in 5 of these consumers would be willing to pay 20% more for a personalized or exclusive product! This indicates a shift in consumer mentality away from monetary cost, and towards inherent value.  

In addition, 48% of customers would be willing to wait longer for a customized product or service. This means that while their personalized product is being created, customers have more time to browse and possibly even generate more sales.

2. Increase the profit margin

Before it was possible to quickly create custom products, businesses would stockpile products in bulk from a third-party manufacturer. That they might not sell was a risk that they just had to take. 

With in-house digital printing machines, it’s no longer necessary to print hundreds of thousands of identical items in the hope of making a profit. If you have a desktop UV LED printer, you can print very short runs of personalised items without the steep overheads of outsourcing the work.

3. Stand out from the competition

Picture the scene: a town has two clothes stores, both of which sell t-shirts. In the first, you can choose a design from a catalogue of 100 different images and patterns, all beautifully designed by talented graphic designers.

In the second shop, however, there is no catalogue – you can walk in and ask for any image you want – a photo of your nan for her 90th birthday, a cartoon of you as a superhero doodled by your niece, or just the words “do not disturb”. 

Given the choice, most people will choose to shop at store #2 and get their dream t-shirt, safe in the knowledge that nobody else has the same one. If you can offer unique products, custom-designed for each client, it’ll make a big difference in the decision-making process.  

4. No need for higher inventory costs

You don’t need to trash your existing business model to tap into the personalization market. There’s no need to throw out all your stock and buy a fresh batch. With a little ingenuity, you can customize the same items you already sell, simply by adding a special little touch. But that doesn’t mean you have to stockpile versions of your product – you can customize a single product as each order comes in.

For example, if you sell leather handbags, you could use a UV LED printer to print directly onto the leather, or you could use a desktop impact engraver to personalize stitch-on metal plates. With either option, you’ve made a relatively small investment that lets you increase the mark-up on your existing products.

5. Better customer insight

Customer data, consumer trends and buying habits are strong tools to have in any business arsenal. Having your own means of gaining an insight can give you a strong competitive advantage. Business without a product personalization offering can only gather data on the items they have in stock.

If they allow their customers to customize the products, they can know their customers in ways their competitors can’t come close to.

With technologies like CRM and data analytics, companies can save the information of each customer and use it to offer products or services adapted to their tastes and preferences. Good personalization goes hand in hand with analytical technology.

Who knows – in the future, artificial intelligence might let companies use their customers’ personalization habits to anticipate the next big sales trend.

6. Increase customer loyalty

When they can personalize products according to their tastes, your customers get exactly what they want, and their satisfaction level goes up to eleven! They see the product as a unique item, with added value and designed to meet their specific needs. It is an adaptation to the consumer at the highest level and, of course, it’s one of the best ways to build loyalty.

If your customer feels like they have your undivided attention, they’ll be more likely to make a purchase or to establish a lasting relationship with the brand. Once they have that connection with your brand, your competitors will have to try even harder to get their attention.

7. Power the online business

In recent years sales in physical stores have been decreasing. This is largely due to the pressure of online stores who don’t have the same overheads and can offer cheaper products in a more convenient way. Also, with faster, more responsive websites, it’s easier to access the products, compare them and buy them; while in physical stores the buyer always has to search to find the best offer.

According to a recent study by Invesp Consulting, 59% of buyers find the products they want more easily in personalized online stores. In addition, 53% say that online stores with product customization offer better services.

Offering fully customized products turns online shopping into a unique experience, adapting your online store according to the interests of each customer and increasing the conversion of each visit to a sale.

What is Customization Strategy?

Customization refers in the context of international marketing to a country-tailored product strategy which focuses on cross-border differences in the needs and wants of target customers, appropriately changing products in order for them to match local market conditions.

Therein, customization follows a market-driven orientation (as opposed to a product-driven orientation) and aims at increasing customer satisfaction by adapting the company’s products to local needs.

CUSTOMERization means identifying and serving what you perceive as your optimal customers

What Are The Advantages of Mass Customization?

Mass customization is the sweet spot between customized goods and mass production. It’s the idea that the product a consumer receives may not be one of a kind, but it will have some unique features. NikeiD is one of the forefathers of mass customization, allowing loyal customers to choose the color of their canvas, laces, and Swoosh.

While the benefits to the consumer are apparent — receiving a product that better meets their preferences — many companies wonder how mass customization will benefit their bottom line.

Here are 5 benefits of mass customization that can make your company more competitive.

Better profits

Mass customization allows companies to charge a premium for their product. While the costs of incorporating customized elements into a product will be slightly higher, that nominal increase is covered with a savvy pricing strategy. In this sense, mass customization is the perfect upsell.

Adding customized elements doesn’t have to be a costly endeavor, or disruptive to production lines. Apple found the perfect mass customization option with iPods and iPhones by offering after-market product engraving for personalization. The product was already completely assembled and ready to be shipped or engraved, depending on the customer preference. Small producers can offer the same type of mass customization with a Ponoko.

This strategy also helps move customers through the sales funnel. Those who were debating purchasing your product in the decision-making phase of the sales funnel may be tipped over into transacting when they see this benefit.

Improved customer satisfaction

Offering customization options improves customer satisfaction when they purchase a product or interact with a company. Studies show that personalization leading to a positive customer experience improves customer satisfaction by up to 20%. This improvement correlates with a 10-15% boost in conversion rates.

If the customer feels as though they’ve received something valuable for their money, or something that suits their sense of individuality, they’ll have a better relationship with your business. The higher the satisfaction, the more likely they are to engage in word-of-mouth marketing or user-generated content — both of which are incredibly valuable.

Reduced customer churn

Another side effect of better customer satisfaction is reduced customer churn. In other words, your company will retain more customers due to the perceived value derived from mass customization.

Your customer will also enjoy the experience of having items customized to their tastes over more generic products. As such, they’ll keep coming back to you for more rather than looking to the competition.

Streamlined production

One of the primary concerns for companies looking to incorporate mass customization is the impact on the production line. While production will be affected, it’s typically not as disruptive as one might think. In many cases, the production process isn’t affected until near completion or the customized components are created and ready for assembly. This element is where mass customization and pure customization vary the most.

Still, mass customization does impact production times and supply chain management. Businesses must take a strategic approach to minimize disruptions and ensure consistent streamlined production. Don’t hesitate to consult an expert in this area when exploring this opportunity.

Improved inventory management

One of the biggest impacts on the bottom line will be decreased inventory management costs for companies. These savings tend to dramatically outpace any increased production costs with mass customization. By using a just-in-time fulfillment strategy, your business can minimize overhead costs by reducing inventory storage and management.

Again, this becomes an issue of change management as it will alter the supply chain. Working with a specialist or consultant to reorganize and execute these changes can help mitigate frustrations and ensure a smooth transition into mass customization.

Why Are Personalized Products so Popular?

Personalization is a wave of transformation in the eCommerce industry. Nowadays, the customer wishes to add their imagination to the product that they want to buy. We crave uniqueness in everything that we do, from clothing to gift and from furniture to jewelry.

To fulfill this need of the customer, personalized products comes in picture. eCommerce owners are well aware of the reality of how personalization drives growth.

Providing personalized product parallelly improves the shopping experience of customers on your store. Product customization gives you a new way to sell the product in your store.

Offering and introducing product personalization on your e-store is a win-win strategy. Spend in well personalize product designer tool to give the best design to your customers. Above all points completely justifies why the trend of personalized products is rising in the industry and beneficial for both, buyers and sellers. Magento platform is widely accepted by eCommerce nowadays.

Why Are Customized Products More Expensive?

The reason why custom products cost so much, is because you have to purchase special materials and have them made specifically for your custom product. You also need to pay the person who makes the product, because it takes a lot of time to make each custom product and it costs a lot of money to do this. Also, you have to pay for the person who handles the customer service and other things when you order your custom product.

Read Also: Customer Experience Trends 2022

Another reason why custom products are so expensive is because they are difficult to design. Many people have the idea that all the shirts have to be the same shape, color and type, but you don’t want to. Designing custom products takes a lot of creativity and a lot of time, which is another reason why they are so expensive.

The main reason why custom products are so expensive, is because it takes a lot of time to create them and they have to be ordered in large amounts. When you order a large quantity of them, you pay more for them.

Summary

The customization factor is indeed becoming an important aspect of catching the buying interest of customers in our community which is why the majority of the big US names like ApparelnBags and more others are offering a range of custom products regularly to meet the demands of the growing consumer market.

Customization is a great way to learn about your customers, by offering customization on product features you can better refine what you offer to your various customer personas.  Indeed customization enables the creation of new persona’s you probably had not even considered.

Luxury and custom go hand in hand, therefore in order to build a brand in an increasingly competitive global market, in many cases you need unique and custom to survive.

The byproduct of offering customization is overwhelmingly positive if done progressively. The saying “don’t bite off more than you can chew” certainly applies here. Implement customization where it costs the least to supply first.