One phone call and the truck is on its way. One of the pioneers in the field of Mass Customization, the Dutch company Possen.com, will start this spring with an exceptional idea. A 'scan truck', that is to say a truck with a built-in body scanner and sales area, drives through Germany offering clients specific made-to-fit clothing at their front door. Due to the revenue the scan truck will for now, according to the entrepreneur Bas Possen, only be available to bigger consumer groups, such as associations or companies. Possen is already thinking of an availability extension to the individual use, such as scans in shopping streets.
Scan truck: advantage versus prejudice. This unusual operation schedule raises several questions. Why does Possen, who is successfully running its own Mass Customization stores in The Netherlands (i.e. in Amsterdam and in Nuth), take to the streets with a truck? Are there actually people who want to undress in a truck to subsequently being measured? We wonder whether people want to buy a made-to-fit suit by Possen (manufactured by Odermark), which should cost 800 DM, in the ambiance of a (tastefully furnished) truck? What about the experience of buying?
Bas Possen, the 30 years of age managing director at www.possen.com and former business consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, is quite self-confident. The mobile store has its advantages. 'The scan truck comes to places where there are no stores with the three-dimensional scanner. We park directly in front of company buildings; employees do not have to travel long distances to be measured. And we drive to big events like fairs.' The difference between the interior of the truck and the store is minor: 'The client sits down on a sofa, is offered a cup of coffee while a fashion consultant gives details on the three-dimensional body scanner.'
Click & Brick is a concept for success. When a Possen client has been measured, the actual company's concept comes into effect. That is to say Click & Brick: Brick stands for traditional stores, Click for buying on the Internet. Both elements are the key to success for Possen. 'The clients that have been already been measured in a Possen store or truck, can easily place repeated orders based upon saved body data.' This becomes easier thanks to a loyalty card on which all relevant data has been saved. The gained experience of the young Dutch manager tells us that 'consumers spend thousands of guilders in just a few minutes, simply because they do not have to try-on the suit.'
The recently established Dutch company dreams of a Possen-community, a community of "measured consumers" that can order their made-to-fit suits at Possen.com through different sales channels. In so-called Flagship-Stores, in mobile scan trucks and in the e-Store. That is still in the future. At present only T-shirts can be bought through the e-Business of Possen.com, this business is scarcely out of the egg. It's only been six months since this company started of officially. The company claims to have been the first to use the three-dimensional scanner, worldwide. Possen is growing rapidly. The number of employees has been doubled to 40 employees in no time. New stores have recently been opened in Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels. A new store will be opened in London at the beginning of February.
The traditional sales channel with stores is at this time Possen's main concern, same counts for the mobile Fashion-Room and the scan truck. Business manager Bas Possen is certain that Mass Customization necessitates a connection of traditional stores with e-Business. 'The stores with body scanners will not disappear. The success is due to the combination of an online offer with traditional stores.' Possen, being a born entrepreneur, has many expectations: 'Who knows, maybe the newest collections will be sent by e-mail or on a cd-rom. It might even be possible for consumers to create their own Possen suit with the help of touch screens. Not to mention body scanners that are able to measure clients when entering the store.'
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