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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.