E-commerce makes custom orders easy

Can a Web site revolutionize the way we shop again? Folks at getCUSTOM.com hope so.<br>With its launch in mid-March, the new Internet company began offering yet more gifts, apparel and sporting goods that

Friday, April 14th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Can a Web site revolutionize the way we shop again? Folks at getCUSTOM.com hope so.
With its launch in mid-March, the new Internet company began offering yet more gifts, apparel and sporting goods that shoppers can customize to their needs and tastes.

But why all the fuss? The customization trend, in which shoppers have a product made to their specifications, is not new. The site www.baskethaus.com offers customized gourmet foods, sweets and baskets; www.makeupmania.com allows women to send in color swatches and have makeup created to match; www.quiltsgalore.com has unique quilts and pillows.

Customization is "giving a consumer the opportunity to choose what attributes they want [in a product]," says getCUSTOM.com founder and chairman Jeffrey Roth. "It's about you. What do you want? . . . We're selling brand you."

What's different about getCUSTOM.com, says Mr. Roth, is that his company has teamed up with brand-name manufacturers to offer the widest array of customized products available to online shoppers yet.

For instance, order a mountain bike from New York-based getCUSTOM.com and you have a choice of colors and Shimano components. But provide a few additional pieces of information - such as your arm length, torso length and inseam - and you'll get a bicycle made specifically for your riding comfort.

An alliance with Mattel means getCUSTOM.com can offer the My Design Friend of Barbie. Pick the doll's hair, eye and lipstick color. Decide if she's an apartment or mansion dweller, whether she rides a bike or likes to fly and if she prefers healthy or junk food.

The same goes for Mrs. Field's Cookies. Pick from more than 20 flavors and have them shipped to you or a friend as a gift.

This is just the beginning. Among the products available now are watches, scarves, shirts, baseball mitts, pool cues, and snow boards. And in the next four to six months, pending other partnerships getCUSTOM.com is developing, shoppers will be able to customize designer evening wear, motorcycles and even cars through getCUSTOM.com, says Mr. Roth.

He describes the future shopping experience this way:

"You're sitting in Dallas and you want to shop in one of the cutting-edge dress shops in New York. The dress shop that you like the most will automatically come to your [computer] screen. The one dress that you like the most comes up on your screen. You can choose the pattern and fabric you like the most. It will be made to measure for you in Hong Kong [and] shipped to you. That's not available yet today, but we're very close."

But how many of us will buy into the customization trend?

"It's going to appeal to about 15 to 20 percent of the population," says Gerald Celente, editor and publisher of The Trends Journal, and author of the book Trends 2000: How to Prepare for and Profit from the Changes of the 21st Century ($14.99, Warner Books paperback), estimates up to 20 percent of the population will like the idea of customized shopping.

"There's no question people want it their way," Mr. Celente says. "People want some kind of individuality in a mass market force. The blandness and sameness of products really gets boring."

But standardized products are less expensive than custom-made, he adds. "This [customization] is going to be a market niche more than a mass market. It will probably be restricted to the higher end. . . . Most people don't have the imagination, the desire, the time or the money to go custom."

Currently, most choices from getCUSTOM.com are on the high end, says Mr. Roth. "Part of our challenge is that we can only offer the best of what's being offered today."

A mountain bike from getCUSTOM.com starts at $797, but can reach $2,000. A customized pool cue is $500. The Barbie pal starts at $39.95, but as you add accessories, that price climbs, too. And these prices don't include shipping costs.

As customization continues to expand, Mr. Roth says, there will be wider price ranges. "We're trying to understand customer preferences across different products. We're going to soon be offering another level of mountain bike that will be about $400 or $500."

It's been only a month since the company started doing business, so Mr. Roth isn't releasing any sales figures. But he says consumer response has been very favorable so far. "It's a very cool, futuristic way of shopping," he says.

"It's a good market niche, and probably a good business plan, but it's not going to change the way we live," adds Mr. Celente. "I think you wake up in the morning and there are 80 things you do before you get to the Internet. You've got your whole life to live, and this is a very small part of your life."