Customization is too expensive

www.cornerstoneondemand.de

http://visual.ly www.generationy.ie

fourhooks.com http://visual.ly

In 2016 GenYs / Millenials are 16 to 36 years old e.g. school graduates / students / job entrants / young parents etc.

high level of autarchy & self-determination / multioptional life & “anything goes” well educated / quite often without scheme of life

open for new things / no tightened opinion / doubt very often = “maybes” high claim for development and employment = “me-first-generation”

gruenderszene.de

http://visual.ly

visual.ly

Due to high level of need for uniqueness self-determination purchasing power familiarity to internet & configuration technologies expectation of choice & personalization GenYs should be a promising target group for MC

hslu.ch

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x̄AGE=23,6 / σ=4,0 (AGEmin= 17, AGEmax= 36) 76% students, 15% employed, 3% self-employed, 6% other 60% German, 34% Austrian, 6% other

 Only ~50% of all participants have purchased MC-products so far  40% more women than men are MC-Users

 665 MC-products were purchased altogether (492 by women, 173 by men)  Most popular is personalized media, such as photobooks  Female MC-Users customized 5,5 / male 4,0 products on average

 Meeting individual aesthetic taste is the strongest motive for Customization  Women are significantly more proud of their self-made products than men

 “It’s too expensive” is the strongest motive for NO-Customization  "I didn’t know that online customization exists“ is stated significantly stronger by men than by woman - on a very low level!

 “It’s too expensive” is the strongest motive for not having customized more often  "I don’t trust online shopping“ is stated significantly stronger by women than by men

MC-User: Why have you NOT customized more often Over 40 open statements were given, which could be categorized into the seven classes: (1) No Necessity, (2) Missing Shopping Experience, (3) Lack of Time, (4) High Effort, (5) Limited Creativity, (6) Minor Quality and (7) High Costs

MC-User: Why have you NOT customized more often Examples: [No Necessity]: Usually, I don‘t think of it. I have other ideas. It‘s unnecessary. There are enough good products on the market. [Missing Shopping Experience]: I miss real life shopping experience with touch and feel. [Lack of Time]: Customization takes a long time. Online Shopping has long delivery times – offline is much faster. [High Effort]: Sometimes you have to download a configuration software or a file. [Limited Creativity]: Many customizable products, such as printed mugs, are „mainstream“ in the meantime. You can design only a little and work with templates. Your creativity is limited. [Minor Quality]: Customized products are often of minor quality and look cheap (e.g. bad printings). [High Costs]: Customization is too expensive, shipping costs for example are high.

 Participants strongly agree: ”A company offering MC is very customer oriented.”  No significant differences between men and women

Conclusions Only 50% of the participating GenYs have purchased online customized products already A certain reservation towards E-Commerce cannot be seen as substantial reason for resistance Activities emphasizing the trustworthiness of an online shop should be applied anyway

GenYs are used to almost unlimited options, they expect freedom and infinity. A company is better evaluated in terms of customer orientation, topicality and professionalism, when customization is possible. GenYs expect customization, although they will not utilize it necessarily.

Targeting Generation Y a company is well advised to offer customization, not expecting direct revenues originating from this business model but positive effects strengthening the overall image and brand perception, which – ultimately – results in indirect (monetary) returns, for example by selling more standard products.

Conclusions Statements like “Customized products are often of minor quality and look cheap” can be seen as unmistakable call for improvements within production. Communication activities necessarily have to comprise descriptions and proofs of the qualitative execution.

Statements like “There are enough good products on the market” and “Many customizable products […] are „mainstream“ in the meantime. Your creativity is limited.” address the quite often exchangeable assortment and solution space of MCcompanies.

MC-companies and entrepreneurs are asked to invent new offerings pleasing the customers’ need for novelties and variety seeking.

Conclusions Statements like “Sometimes you have to download a configuration software” and the evaluation “The configuration process is to laborious” reveal, that there is great demand for improvements concerning the configuration systems.

Easy access, high usability, simple handling and freedom of creation are crucial guidelines creating a configuration system. As orientation the H-U-V principle might be applied.

It comprises the dimensions Help, such as design inspirations by company or other customers, Usability, such as structure, guidance and process orientation, and Visualization (see Walcher / Piller 2016)

Best way meeting the object “Customization is too expensive” is to regularly communicate the customer values in a consistent and authentic way or rethink the positioning of the MCoffering (everyday vs. premium / customization for self usage or for gift giving ).

Conclusions Women are seen as promising target group for customization. Especially, customized products as objects of gift giving by women open a field of further research and business opportunities.

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Reference Junker, F. / Walcher, D. / Blazek, P. (2016): Acceptance of Online Mass Customization by Generation Y – an Empirical Study among European Consumers; in: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Mass Customization and Personalization in Central Europe, MCP-CE 2016.