Hyper-customisation: scalable uniqueness
By Alice Damonte
From standardisation to customisation
“Any customer can have a car painted any colour so long as it is black.” In 1909, Henry Ford introduced the first moving assembly line, writing the history of mass manufacturing. Producing the largest number of cars, to the simplest design, at the lowest possible cost meant that customisation had to be sacrificed: scalability required standardisation.
Individualisation became important much later. The rise of advertising and marketing enhanced the focus on the emotional meaning of products. The first business models based on personalised goods according to customers’ specifications appeared with Dell Computer (Turbo PC, 1985) or Levi Strauss (Personal Pair, 1995).
Beyond individualisation, mass customisation is a marketing and manufacturing technique that combines the flexibility and personalization of “custom-made’’ with the low unit costs associated with mass production. The rise of the Internet has been key for the development of personalisation as a macro trend.
We believe we are witnessing a fundamental transformation: “individual tailoring” is evolving even further. Many companies are rethinking their production and manufacturing processes in order to implement a fully consumer-centric approach. An increasing number of companies are able to offer truly bespoke products while benefitting from the advantages of scalability and mass production. At C4 Ventures, we call this rising trend hyper-customisation; it goes beyond mass-customisation as each individual product is unique.
Why now?
Many factors have come together to make hyper-customisation possible while keeping a scalable business model.
The quest for comfort
Everybody is different, why should we all fit in the same pair of shoes? Products that adapt or are made to our different body shape are obviously more comfortable. Normal, a C4 Ventures investment, has successfully embraced hyper-customisation with its tailored-fit earphones and developed an affordable bespoke solution to satisfy a very specific quest for comfort. Its earphones indeed fit perfectly the customers’ ears, they don’t fall off, and provide the best sound experience thanks to a state-of-the-art 3D printing technology.
Technological and software innovations
The recent technological and software advances are key to make all this possible. Digital design platforms, the Internet, and obviously addictive manufacturing techniques (3D printing), are enabling brands and retailers to offer product customisation to a mass audience at scale. These new technologies make it possible for companies to let end customers design and buy products which meet their exact specifications, providing levels of customisation that were previously only reserved for high-end products and services.
Let me take a #selfie
Oxford Dictionaries picked “selfie” as its 2013 word of the year. The rise of self-promotion in all its forms has been sustained by technology, which empowers individuals to differentiate and advocate themselves. Consumers crave for uniqueness. The more consumers absorb this habit, the more their expectations rise, demanding for all their products to feel unique. Hyper-customisation plays a key role in the satisfaction of this need to “leave an imprint” on physical products. “The art [behind the hyper-customisation trend] is not that everything is 100% bespoke, but whether I feel I’ve put my imprint on this product,” says Nyla Mabro, Brain Reserve’s Director of Strategy.
Illustrations
Among the companies that are ahead of the curve, we have observed three common success factors. Firstly, the early adopters targeted by the company belong to a specific niche suitable for a disruptive “bespoke-affordable” product. Secondly, the chosen product responds to both the quest of comfort and the need for leaving an imprint. Lastly, the personalisation mechanics are hidden from the customer thanks to a user-friendly online design platform.
An increasing number of companies are succeeding in the implementation of the hyper-customisation although its feasibility varies across sectors. We see fashion, sport, and healthcare as the first ones embedding this macro trend. Food and beauty provide good examples as well.
Fashion
Fashion has naturally been the first sector to embrace it. Unmade, one of C4 Ventures’ investments, wants to “democratise fashion”. They have rethought the whole garment production process from a digital perspective. A user-friendly platform enables customers to design their own jumper thanks to unparalleled choice and input curated by designers. The items are then produced locally in few hours.
In a similar manner, My-swear recently launched an impressive shoe customisation engine via farfetch allowing customers to customise their dream pair of shoes, with options ranging from white python skin to suede via golden crocodile !
Cute Circuit and its innovative smart textiles, make customers dream of dresses that can change colour and pattern through a simple app. The transition from day to night becomes stress-free, the need for high variety of garments drops, and customers are empowered to interact with brands to ask for the exact pattern they wish to wear
Sports
At the intersection of Sports and Fashion, Nike, renowned for being a successful “tribaliser” and innovator, empowers its customers’ individual preferences through its online trainer customisation services NikeiD and Nike+. Today, customisation is close to 20% of Nike’s eCommerce sales. Likewise, PUMA launched its custom jersey tool in June, 2015 and “customized jerseys now account for more than 50% of all orders”.
Working for the personal health of individuals, Rcup has created a very special type of soles: 3D printed, bespoke, and connected. Conceived specifically for the needs of runners, the product aims at optimising the comfort and well being of the feet.
Healthcare
Bespoke Innovations (acquired by 3D Systems) uses cutting edge 3D scanning and 3D manufacturing technologies to produce fully customised prosthesis that satisfy the clinical, comfort, and aesthetic needs of patients.
Similarly, IKO Creative Prosthetics System, among the winning projects at the 2015 CORE77 Design Awards, has collaborated with Lego to propose its way to turn kids into superheroes.
Food
Hershey has recently launched a “multi-year explorative project of 3D printing for edible food.” The first step of this journey is Cocojet: the most technologically advanced chocolate 3D printer in operation, developed with 3D Systems. Consumers will soon have the chance to print their own chocolate designs.
The Israeli-based Ripples focuses on morning latte rather than chocolate. Customers can have pictures, designs, or messages printed on their coffee foam in less than 10 seconds, using nothing but 100% natural coffee extract.
Beauty
Nail art is an important form of creative expression for girls of all ages. Preemadonna wants to “meet girls with technology that is relevant to their lifestyle”. With this purpose the company has launched Lacey Nailbot, a nail-decorating robot that prints bespoke full-colour art on nails in just few seconds.
What’s on for the Future?
There are many models for companies to offer value in this new, highly personalised era. Customers can be offered either the bespoke product directly, a tool to manufacture the desired item, building blocks to add layers to the customisation process, or a combination of those. However, to find the value in nowadays’ digitalised world, companies must recognise the proactivity of their customers, who are far from simply being passive consumers.
There are certainly many challenges ahead: supply chain and manufacturing processes need to be re-engineered, which can be costly. Hyper customisation often means longer lead-time, which may not be acceptable for consumers. And some would say that actually, customers sometimes do not want the option to choose!
At C4 Ventures, we believe that hyper-customisation will affect one way or another every business selling consumer products. Today, it is very relevant in the high-end/luxury industry where creating something that feels unique, comfortable, handcrafted and individual is essential, that’s why Fashion, sports, healthcare, were the first to experiment with hyper-customisation, but even the companies operating in “less obvious” sectors will have to review their business models soon, and no two Ford cars on the road will be alike!
