Mass customization is a business model defined by Tseng & Jiao as “producing goods and services to meet individual customer’s needs with near mass production efficiency.” However, this is an ideal definition. No large corporations so far have been made substantial profits by using the mass customization model except for NIKE iD.

NIKE iD is a customizing service launched initially in 1999 by one of the largest sportswear company NIKE. It allows customers to design their own clothes or shoes online, and the customized items will be shipped directly to the customer’s, which is also a direct sale. NIKE iD expands customers purchased from limited choices by providing a limited range of material and colors to develop their unlimited own style items.

Data shows that NIKE’s online community has reached 15 million people, and their market share has increased from 48% to 61% during the same period. In addition, NIKE iD is now 20% of store total revenue, which illustrates that mass customization has become the driver of their revenue.

Forrester’s J.P Gownder concluded that “mass customization is finally the future of products.” As the rapid development of economy, the market of customization is tending to grow. Consumers have a tendency to substitute their purchase from manufactured goods to customized goods.

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