What is a product? Definition of products and different types of products (2023)

Although it may seem obvious, there's a lot more to the products than you might realize. What is a product and what types of products are there? Is there a clear definition of products or is it more complex than you think? In this article, we explore these questions in more detail.

How to think about a product

A product can take many different forms. So if you are looking for a simple answer to the question 'What is a product?"We may have to let you down. A product can be defined as anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a customer's need or desire. Products can be physical goods, services,experiences, events, people, places, organizations, information and ideas. But that is only one side of the product definition. Please join us as we continue to explain what a product is and how to distinguish the different types of products.

You can't have a business without having some kind of product; It can be said that products even define a business. But what is a product? Examples of products are household items, clothes, cars, personal items like perfumes, electronics, but also intangible things like ideas or services. Everybody cancreate or develop a product, but how well it is designed and manufactured is what sets a product apart. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos once said:„Your goal should be to add value to everyone you interact with.”This can be transferred to the product design. The goal of every company should be to create products with added value for consumers. In this sense, a product can also be thought of as a service package that offers the customer added value.

Different definitions of products

Let's get down to business: What are products? There is a whole range of different product definitions from different authors and different disciplines. All of these definitions answer our question in their own way. Below we take a look at a selection of some well-known product definitions.

The English Dictionaryproduct definition

IsEnglish dictionarydefines the word “product” as…

• Something intended for sale, i.e. a commodity offered for sale.
• Anything that is manufactured (often through an industrial process)
• The result of something (also in the mathematical sense)
• Any tangible or intangible good or service that results from a process and is intended to be delivered to a customer or end user

The definition of product marketing

One of the most common and popular product definitions, at least from a marketing perspective, is Philip Kotler's. What are products from Kotler's point of view? He defined a product as “anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption. It includes physical objects, services, personalities, places, organizations and ideas.

The economic definitionof products

Aftereconomic times, “A product is the item offered for sale. A product can be a service or an item, it can be physical, virtual or cybernetic.

Given these different definitions, what are products anyway? The Economic Times definition summarizes many of the different definitions of a product as “the item offered for sale”. Aside from this commonality, a product can come in many different forms as long as it is offered for use. This brings us to the next part where we look at the different types of products.

types of products

As with the definition of products, there are many different ways to distinguish product types.

Consumer products vs. industrial products

One of the most commonly used methods of distinguishing the types of products isconsumer productsagainst industrial products. Each of these types has its own subcategories.

consumer products

consumer products They are, as the name suggests, products that are manufactured or sold to consumers. These include convenience products, grocery products, and specialty productsInappropriate Products. These products are manufactured or created to meet the needs and desires of consumers. What are products if you only consider consumer products? We will briefly explain and give some examples of itdifferent types of consumer goods.

1. comfort productsThey are necessary products that are regularly purchased by consumers and can be found almost everywhere. Convenience products are widespread, have low prices and often require a lot of advertising. Examples of convenience products are books, sugar, pens, pencils, salt, matches and detergent.
2. shopping productsThey are products that are needed but that consumers do not typically buy. Shopping products are sold in fewer places and are generally compared based on quality, size, features, and so on. Consumers often take the time to compare other options before shopping for products. These products often require personal sales and advertising/marketing. Examples of purchased products include furniture, phones, and clothing.
3. Special productsThey are products with unique features or characteristics. They tend to be expensive, marketed in selected areas as opposed to convenience products, and aimed at a specific group of consumers. Examples of specialty products include designer clothing, sports cars, and other expensive products.
4. Inappropriate ProductsThey are products that consumers do not normally buy. They are only bought when needed. They are personal sale products and require serious advertising/marketing. Examples of products that are not in demand are life insurance and funeral services.

Learn more about thefour types of consumer goodsand marketing considerations for each type.

Industrial products

Industrial productsThey are assets purchased by organizations to support operations or provide services. While consumer products are bought for personal use, industrial products are bought (at least initially) for the benefit of the organization. But what is a product when we consider industrial products? Let's take a closer look at the different types of industrial products.

Industrial products include materials and parts, capital goods, supplies, and business services.

1. capital goodsThey are commodities that facilitate the production process, but do not become part of the final product itself. Examples of capital goods are plants or factories, fixed equipment such as main machinery, and auxiliary equipment such as printers.
2. materials and partsare the goods that become part of the end product through the production process. This includes raw materials such as wood, but also components and parts such as gears.
3. Commercial supplies and servicesThis includes both operating resources, i.e. objects that primarily serve to maintain the functionality of a company (think of printer ink, for example), as well as intangible goods such as advice or maintenance. Both business services and consumables help keep the business running.

Tangible vs. intangible products

Products can be further divided into tangible and intangible goods.

tangible product

The word "tangible" means anything that can be touched or felt. If we apply this definition to a product, we can say that a tangible product is a physical product that can be touched or felt. Examples of physical products are cars, pens, books, gadgets, and tools.

intangible product

"Intangible" is the direct opposite of tangible. So if material goods can be felt or touched, immaterial goods cannot be felt or touched but can be seen indirectly. Intangible products can be viewed as services that may still have tangible components. An example of an intangible product is an insurance policy.

product features

After discussing what products are and how to distinguish the different types of products, let's think about the properties of the products.

Product features are the properties of a product. They can help distinguish one product from another or tell a good product from a bad one. Each product has its own characteristics and properties. Only when the properties of the products are combined with theneeds and wishesYou can tell if a particular consumer or business is a good product or a bad product. A good product for one may be bad for another.

Regardless of a good or bad product, you can always distinguish products based on their characteristics. In addition, the properties of the product play a very important role.important role in marketing. It is usually much easier to market a product when the product's attributes are clearly communicated. Product features include the following points:

• A product is any good or service that can be sold
• A product can be considered asvalue package- Turn it into a vehicle to bring satisfaction to consumers
• existthree product levels– core value, real product and extended product
• A product is tangible or intangible.
• A product can come in different forms.
• Products include goods and services.
• Tangible products come in different sizes, colors, shapes, patterns, etc.
• Products are a key element in theMarketing-Mixjmarketing strategy

There are many more aspects that could be included in this list of product features. It all depends on the type of product. What can we say about everyone if a seller can redesign or improve a product to boost sales?

How is a product different from a service?

In the most common understanding, a product is tangible, meaning it can be touched or felt. However, what we actually mean by that should be called a commodity. Products and goods are commonly used as synonyms. However, this is not entirely correct. While a good is something tangible, a product can also be a service. Of course, this also depends on the type of products.

However, if we stick to the common language for a moment and look at products as something tangible, we can say that a product can come in different shapes, sizes, quantities, qualities, etc. A product is made specifically for the needs and desires of consumers or industrial requirements and can usually be easily returned if the customer is not satisfied with it.

products in this sense

• Tangible
• Designed to meet the needs and desires of consumers or industry requirements.
• quantifiable
• Furtherblich
• returnable

According to Philip Kotler, “A service is an activity or benefit that one party may offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in ownership of anything.” The main characteristic of a service is that it is intangible; However, a service can have concrete elements. Unlike products, services cannot be returned.

under consideration ofservice functionswho are services

• Intangible
• Inseparable
• Furtherblich

What a product and a service have in common is that both are designed to meet needs and generate satisfaction. However, due to the differences between products and services, they require different marketing strategies.

closing words

Marketing is based on a product and cannot be achieved if there is no product. So if you know an answer to the question 'What is a product?' is a key requirement in the development of aeffective marketing strategy. Also, you need to be aware of the different types of products as well as the characteristics of the products to ensure your marketing strategy is tailored to the specific needs of the situation.