Just the Way You Like It
When choosing a product such as a laptop, I put a few things into consideration before making a purchase. The price, performance, and reliability.
As discussed in class today, one of Dell’s unique benefits is the level of customization offered. Having the power to pick and choose specific details of your laptop allows your utility per dollar to be maximized. In other words, your money is going towards exactly what you want. Also, the fact that Dell uses mass customization and does not require a middle man, provides customers with low, affordable prices for what they want.
Dell Computer has changed the competitive landscape by:
- Offering customized products directly to customers on demand without premiums in either price or lead time
- Minimizing inventory to unthinkable levels
- Being agile—quickly responding to the market/technology changes
- Eliminating the cost and risk of finished goods inventory
- Successfully executing a mass customization strategy quarter after quarter, year after year
If you were to purchase a stock laptop from Future Shop, for the same price, you would probably get a lower quality laptop, satisfying only a few of your needs with extra components that you do not even want. Thus, reducing your utility per dollar.
Apple some how uses euphemism, extremely well, to advertise its low-customized products.
Much of their success lies in their targeted market, I believe. It seems Apple ‘customized’ their look to fit a large targeted market, rather than having a small market, customize their own product, like Dell.
This seems like a good reflection of our society. What this means, is up to you to interpret…
Sources:
http://www.mass-customization-expert.com/21%20Century%20Manufacturers.htm