“Do consumers want to design unique products on the internet? A ...

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2.5 Threadless - The future of Mass Cus<strong>to</strong>misation? Instead of thinking of opposites this thesis suggests that it’s the <strong>to</strong>wards the centre of the continuum between MP & MC or Standardisation & Individualisation that may offer the best fit for <strong>consumers</strong> and manufacturers. It’s suggested that conceptual polarization has lead management thinkers <strong>to</strong> ignore strategies which combine these logics (Lampel & Mintzberg 1996). One company which on the surface seems <strong>to</strong> combine these two strategies well and will be the focus of this papers research is the online t-shirt manufacturer Threadless. Threadless’ business model cannot be categorised under Lampel & Mintzbergs framework as it has one fundamental difference from all the approaches, the cus<strong>to</strong>misation & cus<strong>to</strong>mer input occurs at the earliest possible point in the value chain, at the conception stage. Threadless’ business model is outlined below in Figure 4. Figure 4: “The Threadless Business Model” Adam Fletcher – Do <strong>consumers</strong> <strong>want</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>design</strong> <strong>unique</strong> product on the internet. 2006 32
In this approach the cus<strong>to</strong>mer is in almost complete control over <strong>design</strong>ing the product and determining what is <strong>to</strong> be manufactured. Every cus<strong>to</strong>mer has a say and equal input but collectively they decide which product moves down the activity chain where the manufacturer handles the fabrication, assembly and distribution. In Threadless’ case members of the community submit t-shirt <strong>design</strong>s which the rest can comment and score from 1-5. The <strong>to</strong>p scoring <strong>design</strong>s are usually then manufactured (Threadless have the final say and consider fac<strong>to</strong>rs such as technical difficulty, number of colours etc) and sold in limited quantities on the site. The winning <strong>design</strong>er receives $2000 in exchange for the rights <strong>to</strong> the <strong>design</strong>. If we think why Lampel and Mintzbergs framework did not include an approach which had only cus<strong>to</strong>misation at the <strong>products</strong> conception and <strong>design</strong> stage, it might have been because the paper was written in 1996. The Internet, e-commerce and Virtual Communities existed then but were still in their infancy. Since the widespread adoption of the internet and subsequently e-commerce there has been an evolution in the thinking concerning Mass Cus<strong>to</strong>misation. This thesis would like <strong>to</strong> show, contradic<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>to</strong> the focus of the most of the literature (the exceptions being Lampel & Mintzberg 1996 and Piller & Walcher 2006) and with the help of Threadless and its VC that these enabling technologies while reducing the cost of individualisation may also reduce the cost of aggregation. The Threadless model works by grouping cus<strong>to</strong>mers with similar requirements and interests in<strong>to</strong> niches, unifying a fragmented and heterogeneous market. All the idea generation and <strong>design</strong>s are created and approved by the Virtual Community with little involvement by Threadless. Only those <strong>products</strong> (t-shirt <strong>design</strong>s in this case) that have enough support and interest from the community make it in<strong>to</strong> production. In Adam Fletcher – Do <strong>consumers</strong> <strong>want</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>design</strong> <strong>unique</strong> product on the internet. 2006 33
Page 1 and 2: “Do cons
Page 3 and 4: Abstract Mass Custo</strong
Page 5 and 6: Chapter 1 Introduction, Term Defini
Page 7 and 8: mass produced system.” Adam Fletc
Page 9 and 10: The Internet itself could be viewed
Page 11 and 12: With this renewed interest and opti
Page 13 and 14: 2.0 Literature Review (5000) This c
Page 15 and 16: Table 1: Description of Production
Page 17 and 18: Lampel and Mintzberg’s (1996) hav
Page 19 and 20: individualization” (Piller & Mull
Page 21 and 22: necessary discounting to</s
Page 23 and 24: significant value add or a way of g
Page 25 and 26: Figure 3: MC approaches used by VMs
Page 27 and 28: eceived less focus in the literatur
Page 29 and 30: - Access a communities’ publicly
Page 31: Some studies have proven that often
Page 35 and 36: Figure 5: “Conceptual framework s
Page 37 and 38: 3.0 Research Strategy & Methodology
Page 39 and 40: general. It can help to</st
Page 41 and 42: 3.3 Research Methodology It is sugg
Page 43 and 44: Chapter 4 Findings & Discussion “
Page 45 and 46: shows the different categories and
Page 47 and 48: commonly posted comments were givin
Page 49 and 50: community member adds a comment bel
Page 51 and 52: “This is pretty rough right now,
Page 53 and 54: “other” also responded in a way
Page 55 and 56: Surprisingly and contradict
Page 57 and 58: 4.5 Sawhney and Prandelli (2000) st
Page 59 and 60: customers
Page 61 and 62: Figure 10: Adapted Conceptual Frame
Page 63 and 64: Chapter 5 “Armed with new connect
Page 65 and 66: 5.1 Research Conclusions & Limitati
Page 67 and 68: 5.3 Recommendations The most obviou
Page 69 and 70: Chapter 6 References & Appendices
Page 71 and 72: participation in network and small
Page 73 and 74: Control. Vol. 15, N.4, June 2004, 4
Page 75 and 76: Von Hippel, E. (1986) “Lead users
Page 77 and 78: 1. Less than once a week 2. Once or
Page 79 and 80: 17. Do you design
Page 81 and 82: 30. Please rate from 1-10 (10 being
Page 83 and 84:
The Virtual Community of Threadless
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