A girl wants a T-Shirt with an cool color, saying of choice on the back, and flag on the front. She gets a net company like CafePress or Zazzle to make it after she orders. That girl's now in the custom one-off market. But cheaply. In contrast, Wal Mart's cheap because it's all mass. So. The me generation's satisfied. Low price buyers too.
Both models rely on information to tailor their business to the customer. But the individualized choice model will have ultimately longer term clout. If everyone can have specialized options in t-shirts, why not regular shirts. And then? If there's a big market, and who doesn't like personalized music, clothes, cars or life generally; Sears, WalMart and Target will have to work out a way to be in it as a mass market. Just as they did with photo developing.
