This story is from November 18, 2019

Mass Customization: Reshaping Business Strategy

Mass Customization: Reshaping Business Strategy
Nitya Bagga decodes the Manufacturing-Marketing 'Megatrend'
The dogma of 'Caveat Emptor' ended overnight, and the very next morning we found ourselves in this hypercritical world, all set to rule with the radical ideology of 'Caveat Venditor'. Customer is undeniably the supreme king, and with consumerism as his crown, it’s no longer the era of bending customers.
Rather it’s the era of spoiling customers of choice!
For the best of brands, the vogue is to make ends meet. With such cut-throat competition, one thing that any day differentiates a brand from others is its premium values. Premiumisation is the horizon where ‘necessity’ meets ‘desirability’ and ‘luxury’ meets ‘affordability’. It is largely how a brand appeals to its customers, often to an extent that they don’t mind paying higher than they normally would, owing to the premium values they are served with. Good, fuss-free after-sales services, innovation, low maintenance costs, doorstep services, personalization are some premium values acknowledged among customers today. Enhanced standards of living and changing patterns of consumption together vouch for it. In the time when more than half of the world’s population chooses its own government from amongst itself, for itself, it's evident that people like being in charge, they like being in a position where the choice lies with them. And embrace their individuality, it's a win-win situation. Any smart business’s choice, in this case, would be to bend the products to fit the needs of its customers and make them feel important, make them feel welcomed. Anything that screams ‘exclusive availability’ for them, grabs attention.
This is exactly where the prime most value of Mass Customization comes into play. As the name suggests, this marketing strategy aims at providing a high degree of customization, acknowledging varying needs among customers. It redefines the power of ‘choice’ with the customers. Making production a collaborative effort, rather than something that was conventionally supposed to be just the business’s job single-handedly, it reexplores the way of catering to the customers. But then how profitable and thus, desirable would such an avenue be for businesses? The answer is ‘a lot!’ What we defined earlier was simply ‘customization’, now let’s discuss how that prefix of ‘Mass’ is a game-changer! Mass customization rather than identifying an individual’s needs, aims to distinguish customers based on different needs and then grouping them together, finding common ground. In this way, it targets customer groups with a comprehensive approach. Amazon, the e-commerce giant, presents a remarkable example of such mass customization. One may question that Amazon isn’t about customization, but this is exactly what one needs to realize. A business need not be about customization, it should have the intent of it, and then this approach has something to offer for everyone. Amazon managed to differentiate its customers on the basis of their engagement and spending behavior. It smartly found a customer group that showed continuous engagement to enjoy its services and that would appreciate faster delivery service. Then it rolled out the dice of ‘Amazon Prime Membership’, giving that special group the ‘exclusively yours’ treatment, and what they had to pay in return was a nominal amount annually. But when that amount comes from millions, there’s no way the business would complain. This is how mass customization works; the former keeps the cost in check and the latter is dedicated to satisfying needs.
But with the soaring competition, the definition of Mass Customization is evolving as divergent businesses work to identify different needs and challenge the fundamental definition. With the dynamic business environment, businesses soon realized that satisfying needs of customer groups still left a gap, and they saw this gap as a scope for improvement. That’s when collaborative and transparent customization made their way. They recognized the hidden heterogeneity among the customer groups and decided to go an extra mile, focussing on individual customers’ needs over those of customer groups. Marketers realize the utmost importance of positioning. Cosmetic Customization gives them an opportunity to exploit the potential of positioning. It's interesting how the same product, marketed and placed differently, can appeal to different sets of customers. One may not realize, but this is one of the most commonly used type of mass customization, exploited extensively by all, from the smallest players to the corporate giants. Just look around the 25 Million+ business profiles on Instagram and you will see how the smallest of entities are trying to capitalize on opportunities with mass customization, especially cosmetic customization. With Amazon’s example as discussed above, one should comprehend that aligning mass customization with corporate
business strategy is not about going out of the way and starting something new, it's rather about adopting the intent for it in what you already do.
In the spree of making profits, what one may end up missing is that discounts and offers can get you customers, but premium values can both attract and sustain your customers. With standards of living enhancing further in years down the lane, consumers will be turning more critical, more demanding. With everything changing dynamically, there are certain aspects that seem to remain unchanged. Customers will always value quality, they will always demand better for the price they pay. Market players who stick to these premium values, who continue making luxury affordable, who can offer the desirable even when the customer merely asks for what’s necessary, will always be setting impeccable standards. Strategies like mass customization can undeniably add massive value. We might soon see this trend of mass customization turning into a ‘Megatrend’!
So, are there any rational reasons for corporates to deter aligning their operations with mass customization? Well, I don’t see any!
--- The author is an Economic Hons. student at Aryabhatta College, University Of Delhi
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