3 Things to Know About Kit Customization in 2022

Kit customization is not a new trend for 2022. It's been around for a while! But modern technology can speed up the design and selling process to a remarkable extent.

Since sports teams and players around the world swapped turning up to games in their own kit for uniforms, personalization has played a key factor in enabling teams to have a bespoke identity to help them stand out. 

Customized kit has also opened doors for contemporary performance fabrics to become a standard across players; thankfully we’ve come a long way since the bonnets and bloomers when it comes to women’s kits!

 Admiral, Adidas, and Puma were three of the first brands to introduce kit customization into the market back in the 1950s and 1960s, but now several sports brands, from global giants such as Nike to Under Armor to independent labels, have introduced the ability to customize and personalize kit. 

If you’re thinking of doing the same, great! But here are three important things to remember.

Colors may look different from how they appear in Pantone charts

The human eye is the worst tool used to analyze color accurately, which is why you should set expectations with your customers when it comes to the color of their final product. It is not easy to deal with, and there are many variables at play that can create confusion and misconceptions. 

There are many ways to deal with the color issues plaguing custom apparel. Unfortunately, many of the paper, printer, ink, fabric suppliers, and retailers you may work with are generally secretive about solutions.

You may have had a printer retailer come in and set up your printing system. Everything may run smoothly on your paper, ink, and fabrics, but they've also set it up in a way that if you want to change any one of those things or go to a new supplier with a cheaper and better product, it no longer works, and colors no longer match. 

That's how they lock you into their product.

Fortunately, you can take steps to ensure that your customers are aware of what colors can and cannot be reproduced. There are also methods to properly maintain printing environments and send print jobs to third-party vendors­­­­—once set up similarly—to have consistent output across the board. But it's not generally taught and usually only done correctly by print professionals.

You can read more about this in our e-Book. 

Technology matters

Customization is considered a megatrend. In fact, Deloitte research states that customers are willing to pay more for a customized product; up to 20-25% more. However, the process of customization can be incredibly manual and time-consuming.

Key challenges

1. Club shops, team stores, microsites, pop-up shops, and more can take hours to create, manage, and sit on a different domain to their main site.
2. It’s difficult to manage and process orders using spreadsheets and keep them organized and up to date. 
3. Using spreadsheets also makes it harder to ensure that everyone has access to the same information. 
4. Communication takes place across multiple channels e.g., email, social media, WhatsApp, and telephone conversations. And as email threads get longer, it’s easier to literally lose the thread of the conversation. 
5. Manually applying logos and artwork across single products and variants is hugely time-consuming. Surveying our merchants found that they lost 25 hours a week on this task alone prior to onboarding with Brikl.   
6. Once a purchase is made funds can take a while to come through. 

As this list of challenges demonstrates, there’s more to customizing the kit than just its customization process. Next-generation technology such as Brikl’s platform will empower you with the tools, features, and functions you need to streamline your operations. 

Competitive features

1. Set up shop and start selling in 15 minutes or less with Brikl’s MicroStore technology. 
2. Bin your spreadsheets. Collate, organize and manage all your orders on Brikl’s backend and give your team access so everyone can stay on the same page. 
3. People love images - the human brain processes information 60,000 times faster through pictures than when compared to text. Share links and 3D visualize your designs to greatly streamline the sign-off process. 
4. Bulk embellish your designs across products and variants instead of applying logos one by one. 
5. Use leading-edge payment integrations, such as Stripe, in combination with your Brikl account to get paid instantly.

 Sell your kit online 

What do you want to do with your kit once it’s customized? If the answer to this question is ‘sell it’, Brikl’s platform is the one for you. Optimize the way you sell and manage your orders. 

Unlike other technologies on the market, Brikl doesn’t make money until you do, which is vastly different from other technology companies out there, and anchored to Brikl’s commitment to digitally transform custom and promotional companies.

Other competitive advantages

• The ability to integrate stores with your supply lines for enhanced transparency and streamlined operations. Pull all information, including product details, variants, pricing, and more from your suppliers as a product to sell in your store.

• Our fundraising tool can help you increase cart value and customer loyalty. Show your heart and community spirit in a way your customers will appreciate.
• Brikl offers a unique multiple local currencies feature and enables multi-language pages to localize content.
• For total flexibility your customers appreciate at checkout, Brikl offers purchase order payments.
• Create a memorable customer experience by allowing them to search for products using categories, allow them to customize a product image with a preset design, and deliver additional shopping options at checkout through related products.

There are so many ways Brikl helps businesses like yours grow, scale, and sell that it makes more sense to show you rather than tell you! Make kit customization the main event for your business with Brikl.