Nike ID vs. Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ

The increase in technology has caused mass production to be replaced by mass customization. Advances in technology have made mass customization a possible alternative due to its comparable cost and extreme customer benefit. Companies that allow customization of products allow customers to express their individuality, which creates a more enjoyable shopping experience. Two companies that have taken advantage of the mass customization trend are Nike and Puma through the NikeID and Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ sites.
The NikeID website (www.nikeid.nike.com) is a fully developed branch of the Nike brand that offers men and women’s apparel that the customer can design. The customer can select the color palette they wish to work with or select the shoe or clothing style and change the color from there. The website allows customers to sign up for a NikeID one-on-one designer session where a Nike designer will assist you in creating your perfect shoe or you can sign up for studio updates. In addition the NikeID studio offers customers a chance to win the signature series contest sponsored by Nike and Ludacris. This contest rewards the customer’s individuality and creativeness. Nike has taken the high-tech performance approach to engage the customer into the design process. The website is fairly easy to navigate due to the contrasting colors and bright visuals. The dropdown menus makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for or it allows you to search all products. The NikeID website also has pre-made creative sneakers and apparel for immediate purchase. These items are more fun and creative then the traditional Nike products, therefore they stick with the NikeID concept.
The customer has the ability to choose from a variety of sneaker models based on usage or style preference to design. From there they can select different parts of the sneaker; such as the base, swoosh, lining or lace and change the color to what you prefer. Each shoe has a thorough product overview and the technology that is behind the product to give the customer a better understanding of what they are purchasing. This sort of personalization makes your shoe unique to only you, which is appealing in an individualistic society such as America.
The Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ site (www.puma.com/secure/mbbq/) uses the creative/ artistic approach to sell their sneakers. Upon entering the website you are greeting by a series of flash photos and text. The photos (and website name) confuse the customer slightly- are they going to a shoe or restaurant website? On the main screen you see very little reference to the Puma company. A “menu” opens which contains three types of sneakers that you have the option to design. This number is far less than the NikeID website. The shoes are not gender specific and rather typical compared to the regular line of sneakers. There is no other purpose for visiting the website besides designing your own sneaker, which is different than the Nike ID site that offers a variety of information.
While the website may appear to have far more graphics than the NikeID site, there are far less options when it comes to designing one’s sneakers. There are three shoe options that the customer can design. Like the Nike ID website, the customer can pick the colors and patterns of different parts of the shoe to create their unique shoe. If the customer likes the finished product they can purchase it or if they want to think about it before purchase they can save it in their “dogging bag.”
After visiting both website I found that I prefer the Nike ID website because of the ease of navigating and variety of options. The Nike ID website allows the users to find what they are looking for a lot easier than the Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ website. The Puma website may have gone overboard with their creativity and flash images because it almost over powers the design possibilities of the shoes. For such a creative website, having only three sneaker options greatly hinders my willingness to design on that website. Nike ID uses technology to create the best customer experience overall. While visiting the Nike ID website I created my own sneaker, which was my overall favorite between the two sites.