Emerging Trends

VISION ONE: CUSTOMIZATION 

Customization of manufactured products has been around for decades and has really taken off with computerization and the ability to easily program machines to sequence complex actions with limited human intervention.  

Type in your waist size, in-seam, length, and style and jeans made to fit every inch of you will be delivered to your door step in a few days. Cars, houses, and whatever else we want to get altered or retrofitted can be made to order at minimal cost.  So what’s next? What’s next are whole packages made to fit your identity and life style, so you don’t have to worry about the details. Concepts that combine different functions and save time will catch on, that’s why the Blackberry and iPhones are big hits today. And coming down the customization pike is nano­technology which will shift the paradigm.

Another manifestation of extreme customization now being sold is the “full service package,” soup to nuts. A new sub-division of houses of various styles from French Regency to British Country Style sitting side by side each fully furnished to that theme, with accompanying music system, matching kitchen utensils, linen, computer network entirely set up and ready to move in. What they have in common, is the price tag of an affordable $10 million that only few will be able to afford, but a large few. This scenario was built and sold in Oceanfront 23 miles south of Santa Monica.  Only 79 houses were built but 1,500 people from 4 continents were vying to get one of these 79 houses, OK mansions.

How and where will this theme of Extreme customization show up? And why? Anything that simplifies life and saves time in the 24/7 lifestyle will have a niche in the market. It will show up everywhere because it takes a lot less time to buy a package of related items (one stop shopping taken to its limit) than it does to buy each item individually. Where do Larry Page and Sergey Brin the founders of Google like to shop for clothes? Find out inside…clue. Not on the web. What are some trends to expect from this theme and what are some of the opportunities?