Why You Ought to Contemplate Promoting Customized Merchandise
In today's global marketplace, it is a good time to be a consumer. The rise of e-commerce means more and more businesses are looking to grab the consumer's attention and offer better prices and services to keep consumers interested. With online sales accounting for 16 percent of total retail ad spend, business owners don't want to leave money on the table.
The smartest business owners know that the only way to consistently beat the competition is to add more value to customers.
However, how can I stay competitive when everyone in my industry is selling the same products for the same price? The answer: create unforgettable experiences.
If you're looking for a unique way to add value to consumers, bespoke products can be a powerful, engaging tool that improves customer satisfaction while increasing conversions.
What are Custom made?
Customer-specific products offer consumers the opportunity to personalize their purchases and experience a unique brand experience.
Examples include:
These examples show the importance of offering customizations and customizations.
It's not just a theory. Epsilon's research found that 80% of consumers are more likely to shop when brands offer tailored experiences.
The concept of customization was only developed a few decades ago to promote exclusivity. Custom products have been a status symbol, a means that consumers on a huge budget use to feel special.
While this is still the case with certain products (e.g. exotic cars and designer handbags), rapid advances in technology have made mass customization an option for all.
Despite the lowered market entry barrier, product customization remains a certain attraction for consumers. This begs the question: if the key component of custom products is no longer there (the exclusive status symbol), why are consumers still so interested?
The answer is actually pretty simple: companies had a profound misunderstanding about what made customization so appealing in the first place.
Reasons why your company should offer custom products
What massive brands around the world have figured out, and what ecommerce entrepreneurs need to understand, is that exclusivity was only a small piece of the puzzle.
Product adjustments can have a massive impact on customer satisfaction and thus on the success of your e-commerce business. Why? Because not all of your customers want to experience your product in the same way.
Think about it. When it comes to marketing, we understand that different customers have different needs. The first time visitor to your website needs a different call to action than the customer with the abandoned shopping cart. Customized customer experiences are nothing new. It's only time ecommerce companies broadened their horizons of adjustment.
It gets really interesting to me when you think about the potential financial value this brings to businesses around the world. Let's not ignore the fact that 91% of consumers are more likely to shop from brands that provide relevant offers and recommendations. In particular, business owners are placed in a win-win scenario.
When you offer users dozens of different flavors and options, you create a more inclusive marketplace and different consumers with unique priorities can still take away something they like.
The ability to test is even more interesting. You don't have to make everything in your store customizable. Instead, you can test certain features and identify the ones that people love.
Over time, business owners can collect data and use that information to create product offerings that their customers are statistically more interested in. More value to consumers, more value to business. Win win.
Understand what drives custom product popularity
The benefits of custom products are fairly easy to measure. Having the ability to personalize a purchase gives a consumer the opportunity to stand out and be distinctive.
Let's use the example of a custom t-shirt. On the surface, it seems like customers are simply modifying something to maximize the value of this product. In reality, the experience is a bit more complex.
Let's break down a study by the Journal of Information Technology Management for analysis.
We have found that customizing products gives consumers a certain amount of pleasure. We can consider "enjoyment" as an umbrella category.
Within this category there are two sub-categories of enjoyment. On the one hand there is "Use Enjoyment" and "Design Enjoyment". Certain customers fall into certain categories based on what they particularly value.
Each of these sub-categories had their own subdivisions.
Consumers who fell into the “enjoyment of use” category enjoyed either the unique appearance of the item or the features of the item that met their particular needs. Consumers in the “Design Enjoyment” category were either innovative or enjoyed participating in the design process.
You can use this framework to test what your customers expect from your company. The most important lesson, however, is that product customization should be an engaging and exciting process for customers.
Examples of customized products
All of this can get a bit abstract. So let's look at a specific example. This is how Dollar Shave Club handles the customization.
You start with a strong and clear copy. Create your custom Dollar Shave Club box with a single click.
From there you take a quiz and at the other end you get a straightforward recommendation and a strong call to action. Of course, you can further customize your options by scrolling down the page.
At first glance, this just seems like another way of selling their products. In reality, that's only half the story. Every aspect of this quiz is designed to ensure that consumers are presented with a solution that pinpoints their vulnerabilities.
With Lenovo, on the other hand, you can expand your dream laptop.
It is of course important to keep the limitations in mind. While the laptop would be customized, the capacity of the laptop is limited.
As you create your custom product offerings, keep in mind that removing compatibility concerns can make the life of your consumer a lot easier. Unless they're particularly tech-savvy, they likely won't understand why certain components just don't work together.
Reducing friction before it becomes a problem is one of the many benefits of creating a comprehensive customization experience.
Tips for creating custom products
All of this looks and sounds great, but how on earth are you going to create bespoke products for your consumers? After all, offering more than 100 options is not exactly budget-friendly.
Remember, consumers aren't just interested in custom products. You want tailor-made experiences. Most business owners already know this. This is why so much time and money goes into marketing campaigns.
When you focus on tailored experiences, you can build a deeper relationship with your consumers. They can buy products anywhere, but your company is the only one helping them customize their experience. These better experiences lead to customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and hopefully regular customers!
With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the tools you can use to create bespoke products and experiences.
Individual fit
Whether you're selling swimsuits, winter jackets, or everything in between, you understand that selling clothing online can be a customer satisfaction nightmare.
The biggest problem? Fit.
Everyone seems to have different definitions of small, medium, and large. This can usually be fixed with a quick return and exchange, but it tends to leave a bad taste in your customer's mouth.
Instead of focusing on fixing the problem, we should find a way to make sure it never happens again. Making it an engaging sales tool is just a bonus!
A custom fit quiz may seem easy, but make no mistake: when your customers feel more confident about their size decisions, they are more likely to buy as it avoids possible size issues.
Customer-specific product bundling
One of the most underrated aspects of product customization is the potential for reducing friction.
When you offer to bundle an accessory with a specific product, you're not just selling to make a little extra money selling it. You address two potential customer problems before they even arise.
Right off the bat, you'll be alerting customers to the fact that certain accessories are needed to ensure that they are maximizing their purchase. As a bonus, you can confirm compatibility by clearly showing consumers which items to combine with each other.
This is a great way to ensure that consumers get everything they need in a single transaction. Plus, it's more than just a good sales tactic. This is an effective and thorough customer satisfaction tactic.
Tips for Selling Custom Products
Maximizing your sales and profit margins will always be a priority, and every tactic here is designed to aid that goal.
However, selling a consumer on the concept of bespoke products is less about actively selling and more about creating experiences that guide customers through the sales funnel with valuable information.
To me, the best customized experiences sell by themselves. Of course, it helps if you get experiences that are so compelling and engaging that consumers can only click the "Buy" button.
Use this tactic to get conversions while making the shopping experience engaging and personal.
Do not overuse (test the water)
With all of the talk about bespoke products, you may have concerns that you will be spending a ton of money on new inventory and stocking it up for potential buyers.
In reality, the process should start small. Unless you're on a huge budget, the best thing to do is test the water and find out what versions of products consumers are actively looking for.
If you experiment with customizable t-shirt colors, you don't need 50 new colors. Start with a few set colors and give yourself enough lead time so that you don't have to rush production.
People not interested in new colors? You can let them run out without worrying about wasting hundreds of dollars.
customized Product recommendations
We discussed this a little earlier, but the value of the customer quiz shouldn't be underestimated.
Let's say you often have website visitors who don't yet have a well-defined shopping list. These are people who just browse and see what they see.
What if you could lead that person to a sale while providing them with value in an engaging manner? Sounds like a great way to start your relationship if you ask me. Note that 90% of consumers are willing to share their behavioral data if it makes shopping easier.
You can achieve so much by creating a simple quiz and offering tailored product recommendations.
For starters, customers will walk away with a much clearer understanding of their needs. They also connect you to the authority of the industry as your company has demonstrated your know-how and expertise.
In addition, your customers are one step closer to buying from your website. All thanks to a simple two-minute quiz.
Conclusion
Custom products are often seen as a kind of gimmick, a cheap way to add variety rather than value.
Interestingly, I've found that well-designed, bespoke products deliver impressive value to consumers.
Consumers can be empowered through a process that simplifies their shopping experience. Or they can develop a deeper understanding of what they need from your business.
As long as your custom e-commerce experience is compelling, engaging, and generally value-driven, you can be optimistic that you will improve your customers' shopping experience and thereby increase your sales opportunities.
Which custom products do you think offer the most value? Let me know in the comments below!