Consumers reject mass-produced in favour of self-design

By Annette Juergensmeier Jul 14, 2011, 4:06 GMT

Hamburg - Consumers are beginning to take delight in designing their own everyday items, and manufacturers are heeding the trend. Individualized products are now all the rage, as traditional mass production heads for the scrapheap, according to trend spotters.

No longer content with having tastes dictated by the major retail outlets or even upmarket boutiques and designers, modern consumers are creating their own style.

Whether a bookshelf from the lifestyle chain, running shoes from the sports shop or T-shirts from the department store rail, more and more people are rejecting them and setting themselves apart from friends and work colleagues by designing their own everyday items.

Whether by sticking transfers onto furniture, creating their own shoe designs on the computer in their own favourite colours or printing a name or picture on their shirts, modern trendsetters seek to be different through their own ideas.

'The consumer of tomorrow will see the purchase of highly individualized products as just as normal as online shopping in general,' according to Professor Dominik Walcher of the Salzburg Technical College.

Walcher and his colleague Frank Piller of the Aachen Technical College have surveyed around 500 companies offering individualized products for the mass market. German companies are among the leaders in innovation in the 'Mass Customization' movement, as it is known.

Car companies were among the first to realise the customer's desire to be different, offering a wide range of accessories and extras, along with the extensive colour ranges that have long been part of that market. These days, scarcely any new car is quite like another.

But shoes? Previously they came from the sports outlet. 'These days, you can select the sole and the uppers from the website of the manufacturer - put bright green laces into pale orange running shoes, just as you wish,' trend-spotter Patrick Schenck, who works for a Hamburg retailer, says.

No-one else will have the same shoes as you when you line up for your next marathon.

Bespoke suits, shirts, underwear, shoes - these were previously the preserve of the well-off elite, but now there is evident growth in the number of manufacturers offering made-to-measure for the common man and woman.

Heiner Schote of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce discerns 'a clear trend, both to bespoke outlets and to online order businesses offering tailor-made clothing.' Fabrics, cut, buttons and innumerable other details can now be individualized.

Online businesses are now offering transfers for a well known Swedish furniture chain, whose easily assembled products are found in many homes. 'Thousands of others have the same bookshelf, but mine looks different,' is how Schenk sees the drive behind the trend. 'More important, I can express my own taste, reveal my own highly personal ideas on style,' he adds.

An increasing number of not only young consumers are turning everyday items into an opportunity to allow their own personalities to shine through and set themselves apart from their social environment.

'The mass market has led to a stew of uniformity, a kind of homogeneity that has long been seen as normal,' Schenck says. 'One European shopping drag look just like another a thousand kilometres away - the same items in every shopping bag.'

There were clear advantages to the retailers in simple supply chains and large, uniform stocks. 'Mass customization offers companies greater opportunities to set themselves apart. They can achieve an enhancement of their image, more loyal customers and instant feedback on innovation,' Walcher says.

And consumers are prepared to pay more for items that really attract them. 'Customers basically do not so much want an individualized product - they simply want what they want,' he says.

The most popular items are T-shirts, tailored shirts, products with images, and food, according to the Salzburg-Aachen survey. Owing to the ubiquity of the internet and the high level of technical equipment and expertise in many modern homes, virtually everyone can become involved.

'Computers make it possible to design individual high-value products yourself. This is really ingenious, as the programmes are now so simple that not only tech geeks are able to use them,' Schenck says.

He discerns a growing trend: Restaurants are increasingly offering regional specialities or almost-forgotten classical dishes in preference to the international fare available everywhere. 'Here in Germany, potato salad is making a comeback, while sushi is on the way out. And filter coffee rather than latte macchiato.'