1. Fluid Product Customization
Executive Briefing
PART 2
CREATING A
SUCCESSFUL
MADE-TO-ORDER
CUSTOMIZATION
EXPERIENCE
From Configure Software to
Manufacturing Implementation

2. Creating a Successful Made-to-Order Customization Experience
Here’s a simple but powerful truth: people
value customized products more highly. The
latest research from Deloitte shows that 40% of
consumers between the ages of 16 and 30 are
attracted to personalized goods and services, and
71% of these stated they would be prepared to pay
a premium price for them. As digital consumer’s
attention spans decline rapidly, customization and
personalization offer a solution by transforming
passive shoppers into co-creators of value who
participate in, contribute to, and shape the
products and services that they buy. By offering
customization to your fans, your products truly
become “theirs,” which has significant implications
from a revenue, customer loyalty and engagement
standpoint.
These trends have been validated by a surge in the
number and success of product offerings and even
entire new businesses created to meet the rising
demand for commerce that is tailored to individual
customer’s unique specifications. Generation Tux,
for example, is an online tuxedo rental service that
offers their customers the ability to configure and
visualize a personalized tuxedo in real time online.
Since their launch at at Dreamforce 2015, Generation
Tux reports that 90 percent of orders placed have
been created using their GenTux Studio tuxedo
configurator, with their site boasting a conversion
rate 10X higher than the average eCommerce site.
“Customization is a business opportunity, not a
marketing exercise; the volume is there, and so is
the revenue, with some companies driving well
north of $100M a year in revenue from custom,”
said Jud Barr, Principal at JTB Consulting. “Over
60% of NIKE’s dot com business is custom, but
they’re not the only ones. We’ve typically seen that
if you take one of your best selling stock items, and
offer it as customizable, in the first few months it’ll
be between 10-15% of your eCommerce sales, but
that can quickly grow to 30-40% and higher.”
With Amazon dominating the price and selection
battles, personalized shopping is the future of
brand differentiation. The need for these types
of experiences is acute, with Forrester Research
reporting that more than 30% of organizations list
“making the customer experience as personalized
and relevant as possible” as their number one
priority. And a solid customization program allows
you to create a unique digital shopping experience
that in many ways exceeds what’s available even in-
store.
Custom Products Drive Differentiation
“The key driver for us is product differentiation,”
said Jeremy Levine, Vice President of eCommerce
at Michael Kors. “With so many of our customers
turning to our distributors for pricing bargains,
custom brings that business back in house, and
gives us something unique to offer that commands a
premium.”
A truly personalized shopping experience goes
beyond simple recommendations and instead
delivers offerings that are tailored to individual
shopper’s tastes, making the customer feel like they
are unique, creative, and valued. Companies that
do so stand to create enormous added value from
their customers, many of whom are willing to pay
40-50% premiums for customized products.
In fact, according to a recent study by Deloitte,
offering a solid customization experience can
deliver 5-8X ROI on marketing spend while
boosting sales by 10% or more.
Fluid’s research found that a properly implemented
online customization platform can:
• Command an average of 20-40% price premium
over inline products
• Shorten sales cycles by up to 75%
• Increase conversion rates by up to 200% for
personalized products
• Reduce returns by up to 33%
• Influence in-store sales by up to 50%
• Boost average order value by up to 20%
• Reduce sales channel sampling costs by up to 20%
The Keys to Creating and Implementing
a Successful Customization Experience
While there is no shortage of demand for custom
products, the prospect of launching a customization
program remains daunting for some brands. However,
integrating custom products can be transformative
from a business perspective.
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3. Creating a Successful Made-to-Order Customization Experience
“As our customization business evolved, the margins
were great, product returns were reduced, and we
were charging at least 20% more at retail,” said
Stuart Spiegel of Spiegel Partners LLC, who lead the
implementation of customized products at Converse.
“Custom products eventually became the tip of the
spear that allowed our digital business to go global, as
custom products were shipped directly to consumers,
completely bypassing local distributors.”
In the end, nearly every concern regarding launching
a custom product line can be addressed by taking
a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to these
initiatives.
“You need a clear vision, goals and objectives, but
once you get into this it’s transformative and will
change the way you think about your business as a
whole. You’ll begin designing with customization in
mind, opening up new opportunities in ways your
competitors can’t,” Barr said. “If you take one of your
best selling stock items, and offer it as customizable,
we’ve typically seen that in the first few months it’ll be
between 10-15% of your eCommerce sales, but that
can quickly grow north to 30-40% and higher.”
Product customization is not a stand alone program;
it is a system, with implications for front-end software
implementation, manufacturing, supply chain
management and other parts of your business, and
success hinges on having a solid strategy. But with
experienced partners and effective management, a
good plan can yield rapid results. PUMA, for example,
was able to take their vision of customizable Arsenal
FC jerseys from inception to delivery in just three
months, and to date custom orders have accounted for
more than 60% of total sales while commanding a 30%
price premium compared to a standard jersey.
“We’d been considering adding customization to
our digital experience for more than a year, and the
launch of the 2015/2016 Arsenal kit presented itself
as a perfect opportunity to debut this offering to our
fans and customers,” said Tom Davis, PUMA’s Global
Head of Ecommerce.
“The easy part for PUMA was working with Fluid and
the Demandware Commerce platform to make this
product offering come to life. The hardest part was
aligning all of the internal resources and teams to be
able to execute the back end operations, and making
this come to life in 90 days was a true team effort.”
PUMA offers an excellent example of the successful
execution of the two core components of any custom
product: engaging online configuration software, and
an efficient custom product manufacturing line.
The Essentials of an Outstanding
Online Configurator
The most visible part of a custom product experience,
at least for shoppers, will be your online product
configuration tool. This is where they come to engage,
participate, and create with your brand, which makes
getting your configuration experience right absolutely
imperative.
“More than anything, customers are searching
for the product or service that exactly meets their
requirements and needs,” said Professor Frank Piller,
a leading expert on mass customization and member
of MIT’s Smart Customization Group. “But if you do
it right and create a great experience, customization
offers a solution to these demands and gives you a
way to provide added value to your customers.”
Fluid’s Golden Rule of Customization is to make
creating a custom product fun and easy, regardless of
device, platform or location. You want to guide your
customers from inspiration through creation with
an intuitive, engaging experience, presenting them
with a range of customizable attributes while not
overwhelming them with too many options.1
Stance socks offer a great example of a well executed
online customization experience with their Canvas
custom sock configurator.
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Bain Mass Customization Study, 2013 3

4. Creating a Successful Made-to-Order Customization Experience
“We stand for creativity in everything, and we believe
you can be uncommon and unique in everything you
do,” said Biggie McCubbins, director of interactive
at Stance. “For us, offering custom products is about
giving power to the consumer, and putting creativity
back in their hands.”
Canvas features 26 basic sock designs, each featuring
up to six customizable “Zones,” and users can also
add a two digit number and their name to the back of
the sock, as well two lines of text on the toe bridge in
up to 20 different colors. Each basic design begins with
a full-color pattern to inspire creativity, guiding the
user through the design process as they select various
colors, patterns and options for the custom elements
of the piece. The end result is a simple, intuitive
experience that enables practically unlimited freedom
of expression, allowing users to create a totally unique
product that perfectly reflects their individual style.
“Our biggest challenge was that the way we frame
custom, every sock is a totally new design that
requires it’s own 3D model, which is something that
had never been done,” said Biggie. “I knew we were
in the right hands with Fluid, because they were
truly partners that took this challenge by the horns
and delivered technology that suited our unique
requirements and created an experience that is head
and shoulders above our competition.”
In addition to guiding shoppers through the creative
process, it’s critical to show customizers exactly what
they’ll get. Too often, configurators rely on animations
or other renderings that show what can best be
described as an approximation of a custom creation;
this can lead to dissatisfaction when shoppers receive
their actual product, and consequently unwanted
returns. Photorealistically rendered 3D images, such
as those used by Oakley, allow customers to see
and know exactly what they’re getting. In a similar
vein, ensure your configuration platform only
allows customization of products using of in-stock
components; if people can’t complete their transaction
due to one of their choices being out of stock, their
experience will be a negative one which can lead to
cart abandonment.
Following these principles will not only make the
user’s shopping experience far more entertaining and
engaging, but can boost sales and engagement while
lowering return rates.
These were the lessons that guided Generation Tux’s
creation of their GenTux Studio configurator.
“What’s out there now is not very realistic, and our
customers are in the process of trying to visualize
the most important day of their lives so we needed a
solution that would support photorealistic quality.”
said Matt Schow, EVP of Marketing and eCommerce
at Generation Tux. “That’s why we chose to work with
Fluid to create the GenTux Studio, which not only
allows my customers to arrive at a look quickly, which
in turn converts them quickly, but it sets a competitive
bar so high from a customer experience standpoint
that no competitors will be able to compete with
Generation Tux for quite some time.”
Implementing a Successful Custom
Manufacturing Line
While creating a solid online customization experience
is paramount, it’s equally important to back it up with
a robust manufacturing plan to ensure the demand
for customized products is met quickly and efficiently.
Fortunately, implementing a custom product program
is becoming easier than ever. Increasingly flexible
manufacturing processes and innovations such as 3D
printing are allowing manufacturers to completely
rethink traditional manufacturing and supply chains,
enabling mass customization at ever lower costs.
“A lot of people think it costs too much to manufacture
custom or takes too long to get those capabilities set
up, but the truth is that it takes the same amount
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5. Creating a Successful Made-to-Order Customization Experience
of labor to make a one of a kind product as it does
to make a standard one; it’s all about the efficiency
around that process,” said Barr. “When you work
with a solid production partner, you’re able to get
your manufacturing up and running in 30 to 60 days
producing custom products down to within 10%, and
in some cases 2-3% of regular line production costs,
which are increases that are more than covered by the
premiums people will pay for custom.”
Fluid has partnered with JTB Consulting to establish
multiple custom product manufacturing lines, and
according to Jud Barr, the number one focus for
brands to succeed should be optimizing for speedy
production.
“There is a myth that making custom products takes
a long time, but again that comes down to how you
structure your production,” said Barr. “Just look at
Stance; they created a manufacturing capability in San
Clemente that allows them to turn around a custom
pair of socks in just 48 hours, with no minimum order
size, which goes to show how efficient these programs
can be if you invest in good capabilities and systems.”
Amplifying the Success of Your
Customization Program
To maximize the success of a custom products
program and amplify the impact it can have on
your business, you have to funnel users to your
customization experience. For this reason, it’s critical
that your product configurator is omni-platform;
83% of consumers shop on mobile, while those
who shop across channels have a 30% higher LTV.
You can also boost the visibility and success of your
custom product programs by featuring and promoting
them prominently on your site and in your marketing
campaigns.
Influencer marketing is a proven tactic for marketing
custom products; our research shows that for every
$1 spent on influencer media, there is a $6.85 return.
These campaigns have been hugely successful for
brands such as Vans, Franklin, and others. M&Ms,
for example, debuted their My M&M configurator by
sponsoring the Halloween 2015 episode of the Ellen
Degeneres Show as part of their #MySweetStory
campaign, generating millions of impressions.
JCPenney promoted their ‘Bend the Trend’ back to
school custom outfit campaign with an online video
series on AwesomenessTV that featured top YouTube
talents sporting their outfits created using JCPenney’s
interactive styler, while Lovesac partnered with
Emmy Award–winning dancer, choreographer and
seven-time Dancing with the Stars contestant Chelsie
Hightower to create an amazing video highlighting
their Sactional configurable couches.
“The simple fact is that most couches get in the way
of life, but Sactionals free you to live the life you love
by growing and changing and moving with you, and
nothing tells that story as powerfully and beautifully
as Chelsie’s dance,” said Shawn Nelson, founder
and CEO of Lovesac. “We were on a mission to show
people around the world that whatever they want
from their furniture, our couch can do it. Even dance.”
Social media is a powerful tool for amplifying the
success of customization programs. Customizers are
proud of their creations, and custom products are
twice as likely to be shared socially as compared to
in-line products.2
Social sharing, Tweeting, Pinning
and design collaboration are key engagement metrics
than can drive more users to your customization
experience.
Putting it All Together
As consumers increasingly demand more contextual
and personal shopping experiences, custom products
offer a powerful solution. A robust customization
2
Fluid Customization Workshop, 2015 5

6. Creating a Successful Made-to-Order Customization Experience
platform backed by solid manufacturing practices
not only allows brands like Stance and others to offer
products that are uniquely valuable to their customers,
but also allows them to rapidly scale their product
portfolios to previously impossible levels.
“With standard products, you’re limited by how
many styles you can offer at any one time,” said
Fluid CEO Kent Deverell. “But with custom, you can
instantaneously offer literally millions of variations of
your products, with the result that your fans can get
exactly what they want.”
Fluid’s Configure 3.0 configuration platform is the
technology behind the customization experiences
of brands including Stance Socks, Generation Tux,
Puma, Oakley, Reebok, Sperry, Lovesac, M&Ms, and
many others. Configure 3.0 leverages photorealistic 3D
modeling and actual photographs to allow shoppers
to create and visualize custom products in real time
and hyperrealistic quality from a practically limitless
range of possible combinations of elements, from
colors and patterns to functional components. Every
day, 7,000 custom products are created by brands and
retailers that leverage Fluid Configure 3.0, driving
more $300M in transactions yearly.
Fluid Executive Briefings
This is the second in a series of executive briefings
from Fluid that will explore the current state and
future of eCommerce, personalization, customization,
and more from the world digital shopping. You can
download our first executive briefing here, which
discusses Visual Mix & Match and Match-to-Order
personalization, and the potential value and impact
implementing a visual match-to-order personalization
experience can have for brands and retailers. Stay
tuned for more!
About Fluid
Fluid creates commerce experiences and software
that transform how people shop, driving conversion,
satisfaction and brand loyalty. These results are
delivered through Fluid’s integrated suite of software
solutions and their services team, made up of digital
shopping experts in user experience, design, and
strategy. Founded in 1999 with offices in San Francisco
and New York, Fluid’s customers include Airbnb,
Google, Harman Kardon, Keen, Nautica, Target, The
North Face, Oakley, PUMA, Reebok, Timberland,
UGG and Vans. To learn more, please reach out to us
at hello@fluid.com.
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