The Beauty of Customization

           In past posts I have talked about the allure of the idea of customization to buyers. Many sportswear companies offer this aspect, so that prospective buyers have the opportunity to make a product the like into one that they love. This past month, I used the customization process offered by Nike called Nike ID to design my basketball shoes,  and I want to share my experiences with you, so you know the options available to you through online shopping.
          Shoes on Nike’s website have the most options when it comes to customization through the use of Nike ID. When you log onto the Nike website and begin to look through their numerous shoe collections, under the picture of each shoe there is a little colorful tab that reads, “Customize It” to allow you to reach the Nike ID app for that specific style of shoe. Once you open up the Nike ID customization tab, the original shoe design that you had clicked on will pop up with a side bar that lists the different components of the shoe and the numerous color options for each component of the shoe.
          Over the past few years, Nike has expanded their customization capabilities by allowing the customer to not only change the color of the shoe, but for certain shoes, there is the option to add graphics such as a camo, crackle, or fade aspect to the color of the shoe. You can even make them glow in the dark! Also, after you finalize the exact color combos you want and love the look of your shoes, there is the option to add your name and number to the shoes, to make them even more personalized.
         When I customized my new Nike Hyperdunk basketball shoes through Nike ID in early November, I was able to send the link to my teammates for them to view my creation and ask for their opinion on the shoes. One thing that was really nice was that there was no restriction on opening my design through the link, which allowed my teammates to add their own personal touches to the shoes without having to do it through my computer, they could do it in the luxury of their own home. Once we finally ordered the new shoes, it took about 3 weeks for them to be delivered to my house which I think it relatively quick considering they were customized and not in stock. Due to the fact that these shoes are not in stock there are some extra costs added into the original shoes, and shoes that customized through Nike ID usually cost about $50 more than the original shoe that is in stock.
         If you have searched numerous websites and still haven’t been able to find that perfect color combination on the shoes you want, I would definitely recommend checking out the Nike ID option. Though I do suggest that you might want to use this option on certain shoes that you really, really like to make them special because using this customization option on all your shoes may prove to be a little costly. In my experiences with using the Nike ID options it was a positive outcome and I was very pleased with the quality of the product I designed and I hope that you have the same results when you choose to use the great option for your new shoes!