my %customers;
my $customer_ref = \%customers;

$customers{'cust'}{'id'} = $id;
$customers{'cust'}{'name'} = $name;

my $json = encode_json $customers_ref;

print $json;


##</code><code>##

{"cust":{"name":"Johns Autoshop","id":"5"}}

##</code><code>##

{"cust":[{"name":"Johns Autoshop","id":"5"}]}