Mass Customization: 5 Benefits That Can Make Your Company More Competitive

By Ashley LipmanPexels

Mass customization is the latest buzzword among growth hackers. For a pretty good reason too. It has been proven, time and time again, that with mass customization, your company can become more competitive. Today, all the big brands such as Nike and Apple are jumping to include it in their repertoire.

Yet, what benefits does mass customization have? We will be looking at five excellent benefits that you can get from gearing your operation to include mass customization. Let’s dive in.

What is mass customization?

Mass customization is the act of providing consumers with personalized products but on a mass-production scale.

Unlike what the hype-fans would have us believe, mass customization isn’t a new concept. It has been around since the early 1990s.

While it has been around for years, the significant difference is that today business owners have easy access to improved technology.

Technology such as laser cutting and plasma cutting machines are great for personalizing products.

A company that manufactures name tags and other laser-cut ornaments may use a laser engraver to add a customer’s logo or name to the ornaments. Laser engraving is an example of mass customization.

You take a generic product and make it unique. Now that we have a basic understanding of this concept, let’s look at its benefits.

Increase your profits.

If your business isn’t aimed at the bottom line, at making money, you are doing it wrong. The first, and most important benefit we get from adding mass customization to our business model, is more significant profits.

Let’s take our laser-engraving business as an example. Such a business can charge a premium for the branding or engraving service. Customization is a great upsell and one that consumers will welcome.

Improve your customer satisfaction.

Mass customization of products means we can add custom text or images to a product. We can even give customers the ability to choose their favorite colors. All of this makes a customer grin from ear to ear.

Customers feel like the product was handmade for them only. It acknowledges their individuality, and there is nothing more that millennials want.

If your customer feels like they received a quality product that acknowledges their personality and individuality, they are guaranteed to build a long-lasting relationship with your business.

Reduce your customer churn.

Research has proved that it is easier to maintain an existing client than win over a new one. It is far less expensive too. By offering customized products, you will be able to reduce the typical customer churn.

Since you offer customized products, clients will keep coming back instead of dealing with generic factory-made products. This point brings up our next benefit.

Streamline your production.

Adding customization of products to your assembly line doesn’t need to be expensive. Apple was a great forerunner with customization when they released their first iPods.

Instead of allowing customers to customize the actual product, they added a line of after-market products. Skins and cases were a great way to add some character to their other-wise generic products.

Customization is typically added as the final production step to maintain your high production volumes.

Improve your inventory management.

Mass customization allows businesses to run with a just-in-time fulfillment strategy. This fulfillment method lowers inventory costs and even saves some warehouse spacing.

You won’t have any more nightmares about whether people will buy the new purple dinosaur product in your warehouse or not. You produce the items on demand, as the orders come in.

Is mass customization right for my business?

If you want a business model that is flexible and capable of reaping some fast returns, then you need to look into mass customization. The way of the future isn’t in generic, mass-produced items anymore. It is now found in highly customized, unique products. Now, that is exciting news.