Mass Customization

At first glance, the term “mass customization” might seem like an oxymoron. After all, how can something be custom and mass-produced at the same time?

The answer: technology, man.

Computers and the internet have made it possible to have our cake and eat it, too. Not only can we order a totally awesome, totally custom red pleather sectional sofa online, but we can have it made, delivered, and set up in our living room in about six to eight weeks. Forty years ago, that might’ve taken six to eight months. (Though we’d probably have gotten just as many raised eyebrows for our choice of red pleather.)

So how do these savvy sellers do it? How do they use technology to customize products on a mass scale? Well, there are really four ways mass customization shows up in our own lives.

Adaptive customization refers to products we buy and then use in customizable ways, like the mix and match “Sactional” couch pieces sold by Lovesac. And note how much we've matured in not making any jokes about a love sack.

Collaborative customization happens when a seller or vendor listens to what we need and then creates a product for us; if we invited a couch designer into our home and showed him where we wanted the sofa, and then he went out and designed the perfect piece to really make our space pop, that’s collaborative customization.

Then there’s cosmetic customization, which is basically when the same product is packaged differently to appeal to different customers. Let’s say our dream sofa is advertised in a family-oriented magazine with kids jumping all over it and spilling things on it, but it’s also featured in a lifestyle mag showing a glamorous-looking couple perched on it, sipping Dom Perignon as they look out over a coastal sunset scene. Same product, different target audience. Cosmetic customization.

And finally, there’s transparent customization, which happens when we get a customized product without even knowing it’s been customized. If we buy a lot of sofas for some reason, and our fave sofa company keeps a list of everything we’ve purchased, they know our preferences and can easily and quickly offer us something they know we’ll love without us having to go through our specifications rigmarole every time.

The more technology advances, the cheaper and faster customization becomes. It’s nice being able to purchase goods and services that are tailored to our needs, even if our needs are weird...like red pleather living room seating.