The New Economy Electronic Commerce, and the Rise of Mass Customization

We assert that the New Economy, together with the advent of electronic commerce, has moved mass customization beyond the realm of myth and mystery for many firms and squarely into the realm of mandatory consideration. The shift away from mass marketing and toward mass customization parallels a similar shift away from mass communication (broad-casting) toward targeted communication (direct addressing). We observe that this phenomenon has enabled a new wave of customer intimacy. Firms are responding by fundamentally changing their manufacturing, distribution, and delivery of products to enable economical mass production of customized goods. The full implications of this apparent paradigm shift remain unpredictable. We posit that this shift offers the global society the potential of profound benefits as well as the risk of substantial cost.