Category of goods and services: description, classification and types

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

First of all, before considering how a category of goods is defined, you need to understand the basic terms. Absolutely everything that is of a certain value in the modern market and can be sold is presented as products. Accordingly, the category of goods can be very different, and the products among us are huge, and each of them requires a completely unique marketing approach and the use of appropriate advertising solutions.

What is the problem?

Over time, it becomes more and more difficult to achieve some kind of success in the modern market, because of the tens of thousands of various products that appear on the market every year, the vast majority eventually disappear completely, and their implementers suffer considerable losses. At the same time, they can even be of fairly high quality, produced according to expensive developments and after preliminary market research.

It can also be a category of product that is successful in other markets. This is especially common in emerging markets, where sales of previously successful products can drop quite a bit. Above all, don'tforget that one category of goods can be sold in completely different ways by different companies.

Why is this happening?

Among the huge number of possible reasons, only one stands out in this case - modern advertisers and marketers are far from always able to correctly conduct a full-fledged analysis of their own product, and also cannot feel all its subtleties. Practical experience shows that the creative use of the intricacies of each product in the end gives the implementer huge advantages, and in the same way, if some significant detail is not taken into account, the business can turn into a complete failure.

The inability to conduct creative analysis is due to the fact that in modern literature it is quite difficult to determine a clear classification of products and understand which price categories of goods have which criteria. It is for this reason that many businessmen are trying to figure out what are the main differences between goods of various categories and how to learn how to properly understand and use them in their work.

How is separation done?

Product quality categories are the main way to conditionally allocate product groups. Our distant ancestors could easily list the main categories of services and products of their time, but in our realities this is an almost impossible task, because modern people are surrounded by a huge variety of different products and categories, and every year theyis getting bigger. At the same time, it is worth noting the fact that every new year there are more and more of them. And this also needs to be understood correctly.

A special place should be given to how the category of goods (products) that claims to be innovative is determined, because initially such a product is not defined by any specific group. In this case, we will note only the main trends and characteristics of categories that can complicate the work of modern sellers and marketers.

Commoditization

The word commodity, which came to us from English, means a certain ordinary product that can be bought almost anywhere. In particular, this includes categories of goods in the store, such as vegetables and fruits, as well as many other things that are used by everyone on a daily basis.

The list of such categories is constantly growing more and more due to the very "commoditization". This phenomenon is due to the fact that due to the use of defect-free production, as well as a host of other modern achievements, in the vast majority of categories, the quality of goods has already leveled off to such an extent that it practically does not matter to buyers who is best to purchase a certain product from.

Example

As an example, you can use the goods of a separate category - computers. If earlier many could immediately distinguish a computer of a certain well-known brand from a “nameless” version, as a result of which they gave about 20-40% more for the former compared to the latter, today manyprefer to simply purchase a computer that has the appropriate characteristics, suitable for the needs of the consumer. The same goes for faxes, phones, and a whole host of other categories.

What to do in such a situation?

In the event that a certain category of goods has been commoditized, it is necessary to determine or even create even more subtle selling points, and also try to become more preferable due to the terms of delivery and payment, services, prices, ease of installation, guarantees and others related factors. In this case, you get a noticeable advantage for many buyers, as you offer the most optimal conditions for purchasing the product they are interested in.

Should I spend money on advertising these products?

You can advertise a product in a certain category using absolute platitudes, but still absolutely everyone will say “please give me three loaves”, regardless of which particular brand it is.

At the same time, if you make some positive changes to your standard product that actually exist, that is, make it stand out in its category, then you can really think about using advertising, which could to explain to ordinary users the main advantages that they can get from the modifications used. It should be noted, however, that in the vast majority of cases, if your products fall into a category subjected to"commoditizations", such eye-catching modifications are quite enough to notice prominently on the packaging.

Growth in supply

In most categories today there is a rapid growth of competing companies. In this regard, in addition to commoditization, this makes it much more difficult for buyers to choose, and it becomes more and more difficult for sellers and marketers to effectively promote their own product.

Dynamism

Categories of goods and services differ in dynamism. Some have already existed for several decades or even centuries, as a result of which no one even expects any major changes in them. At the same time, the modern high-tech categories are undergoing very, very rapid changes.

If in the first case, the advertiser can say little enough, since many already know the basic information, then in the second, he will often have to explain a fairly large number of facts to consumers who do not understand this area to ensure effective sales.

Softness

Organization of product categories also provides for a certain softness and rigidity. In this case, the concept of “softness” implies that the buyer may refuse to purchase a product from this group if it is not represented on the market by any preferred brand. Thus, if there is no Coca-Cola, then many can take Pepsi orsome other drink, and in the absence of Mercedes, some will decide not to wait several months for the right car, but simply get another car.

Importance

It is necessary to understand correctly why modern people spend a lot of time choosing certain products, while others buy almost without thinking. The thing here is that products have different importance for a person, and in most cases it is determined by the cost of a certain category of goods.

When choosing really important products, many people are ready to process a large amount of selling information, and this must be properly considered in the process of building an advertising campaign.

Products

According to many modern studies, there are more than a million different products on the market today, and in modern supermarkets you can see up to 40,000 products at the same time, each of which has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.

The main goal of marketing is to get to know and understand the buyer well so that the goods or services he needs can fit as accurately as possible and eventually start selling themselves. At the same time, you need to correctly understand that not every product can sell itself, and this happens only if, just by looking at the product, a person can understand everything or at least a lot about the product.

If everything is quite simple with recognizable products, then the situation with less obvious ones is more complicated. At the same time, it is important to understand that there are differentthe degree of non-obviousness of the product, and as an example, we can cite the same computer, which is quite easy to recognize by its appearance, but it will not be possible to determine its characteristics in this way.

The appearance of a large number of products may not even say anything about the main purpose of such products, or even talk about it only remotely. Thus, in the vast majority of cases, modern electronic devices look like standard boxes.

Services

On average, almost 70% of the GDP of modern developed countries is provided precisely by the service sector, and this sector has very, very high growth rates. With a huge variety of services, it is quite difficult to determine any common features, and they can be divided into those that do not require the direct participation of the customer in the implementation process, as well as those that cannot be performed without the participation of the customer. Among the latter, one can distinguish medical, consulting, advertising and educational services, in the course of which the supplier must be able to properly deal with people.

Services are also different from products in that they can be easily changed if the need arises, giving marketers more creative scope.

Goods and services

In the process of commoditization of various categories, the marketing struggle for extra bonuses eventuallygradually begins to shift towards services. Thus, modern stores can compete not only on the cost of the products offered, but also on various services that provide faster shopping, the availability and price of delivery of purchased goods, parking and much more.

An experienced customer can even overpay a little for goods if at the same time he will be provided with better related services at an acceptable cost compared to competitors. At the same time, one must correctly understand that modern manufacturers and suppliers of various types of equipment often earn more precisely due to the service offered.