How to Customize for the Real World

Theoretically, information technology should allow businesses to mass customize products and services for their customers at a reasonable cost. In truth, experts think you can mass customize effectively for only about 20% of your customers. The key to success is making sure that this 20% represents the buyers who are the most loyal and offer the biggest opportunity for future profit. Four different types of customization are described: 1) collaborative customization--dialogues with individual customers to help them articulate their needs as the basis for designing and manufacturing customized products, 2) adaptive customization--standard but customizable product that users can alter to suit their wishes, 3) cosmetic customization--changing only the presentation of the product for specific customers, and 4) transparent customization--providing individual customers with tailored goods or services without their necessarily realizing it. The article further elaborates how to align a company's products and processes with customer needs.