Online customization in fashion retailing

 

 

Subject area: Fashion Marketing

Topic area:    Online customization in fashion retailing

Focusing on: Consumers’ satisfaction/loyalty

 

What are the factors influencing customer to buy customized product? Or to take part in customization?

 

What are the added value of e-customization to customer?

 

Title should relate to E-customization for fashion retailing and consumers’ loyalty/satisfaction

 

Related theoretical models formed:

 

1.  Pine & Gilmore’s “FOUR FACES OF CUSTOMIZATION” (1997)

Pine & Gilmore (1997) made a classification on mass customization strategies. It has captured most of the fundamental dimensions of customization alternatives such as product and representation.  The model identifies the four approaches that companies use on customization. Each approach adds value to the product or service during the production process by either changing the representation (overall look) or the actual manufacturing of the product, hence value is added. Customers gain satisfaction from each of these approaches since it gives them what they prefer in a product or service depending on their available resources such as time and money.

Adaptive and collaborative approaches will work well with e-customization for apparels. Adaptive approach allows the customers themselves to create changes to the product by designing it themselves while collaborative approach use both the abilities of the manufacturer and the customer to design the product based on customer preferences.

2.  Customer Satisfaction Model by Kano (Kano, 1984)

Kano espouses that customers response to products are based on its three characteristics i.e. excitement factors, performance factors and fulfilment factors. Fulfilment factors are the basic characteristics of a product that meets the basic demands of the customer for its use. Excitement factors is the approach or process that makes the customer enjoy or gets excited in the process of using the product such that it adds value to how the customer receive it. Performance factors relate to the affectivity of the product or service to meet the requirements of the customers consequently letting him enjoy in using the product or service. Kano further espouses that a competitive product must meet all three characteristics to stand out in the market and patronized by customers at an agreeable cost. (http://www.ucalgary.ca/~design/engg251/First%20Year%20Files/kano.pdf)

 

Kano’s model applies to the concept of e-customization particularly in providing the factors for performance and excitement on both the process and actual delivery of the product. The main excitement factor in e-customization is the technology it employs to allow customers to participate in the design of their garments customizing it based on their preference.  Customers experience the excitement of being able to participate in the customization process of the apparels they will purchase and in the end gets satisfied over the performance of the product they participated in designing.  The unique product that will come out increases the level of satisfaction of customers. Performance in this instance is measured through the actual look of the apparel when customer wore it based on the specification designed by him/her.

Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com