مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

 مجله تحقیقات بازاریابی – Journal of Business Research

The luxury market continues to grow despite the worldwide economic downturn, with an expected growth rate of more than 35% over the next five years (Bain & Company, 2014). Although luxury brands have been slow to adopt an e-commerce platform because of the problem of becoming too accessible and the need to maintain their exclusive brand image (Bjørn-Andersen & Hansen, 2011), many luxury brands have now taken the plunge and online sales of luxury products had risen to about 5% of total sales by 2013 (Deloitte, 2014). The compound annual growth rate of online sales of luxury goods between 2008 and 2013 was 23% and this is expected to increase by as much as 114% between 2015 and 2020 (Verdict, 2014).

Given the popularity of luxury brands, Luxury Society (2014) reports that five key trends are shaping the luxury industry, one of which is mass customization. Mass customization refers to the strategy whereby retailers provide individually tailored products or services to their customers, an approach that is becoming increasingly popular with online retailers (Fiore, Lee, & Kunz, 2004). The personalization of the product and the interaction with the customer make mass customization a oneto-one or relationship marketing tactic, benefiting both retailers and customers (Wind & Rangaswamy, 2000). Applying the latest Internet technology has not only made it both more economic and simpler for customers to purchase individualized products, but also allows retailers to add variations to designs and flexibility to production without increasing cost (Randall, Terwiesch, & Ulrich, 2005; The Wall Street Journal, 2015). According to Business of Fashion (2015), avoiding excess inventory and the subsequent price cutting sales represents a major advantage of mass customization for retailers because the production system only becomes involved after consumers have paid for the customized product. This advantage is especially true for fashion businesses, where consumer demand is hard to predict.

Luxury brands originate from customization, focusing on personalized relationships with customers, and the Internet facilitates returning to such intimate relationships with customers (Bjørn-Andersen & Hansen, 2011). Luxury brands such as Bottega Venetta, Louis Vuitton, and Salvatore Ferragamo now offer customization programs that go all the way from simply adding personal initials and colors to helping customers to create an entirely new product. Although there was some concern about introducing customization programs for luxury brands, for example by diluting the brand identity or being unable to satisfy customers (Rebellion Lab, 2013), given that consumers want to experience engaging, entertaining, and interactive shopping on the Internet (BjørnAndersen & Hansen, 2011), mass customization could be a key strategy for luxury brands seeking to build personalized relationships with their customers and provide an interactive online shopping experience without suffering from negative impacts on their brand image.