Retail trend: Mixing with the masters

Customisation is being increasingly seen as a way to gain a competitive edge in a crowded C&T market. Jo Allen explores how bespoke beauty brands are putting consumers in the driving seat and engaging them in product creation

Call it the Starbucks effect, but whether it’s a cup of coffee or a pair of trainers, consumers have become completely comfortable with the idea of customising the products they buy. At the forefront of these consumers are Millennials: the social media-hungry generation born from the early 1980s onwards who want an exchange and a dialogue with brands. Indeed of simply consuming things, they want to collaborate on and even help to create the product they take home. They are bored of being dictated to, bored of being told which shades to wear and are progressively moving away from standardised, mass-produced products in favour of custom-made solutions.