Category of goods and services: description, classification and types

First of all, before considering how a category of goods is defined, it is necessary to understand the basic terms. Everything is represented as products, which is a certain value in the modern market and can be sold. Accordingly, the category of goods can be very different, and there are a huge number of products among us, and each of them requires an absolutely 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 success in the modern market, because of the tens of thousands of different products that appear on the market every year, the majority majority eventually disappears completely, and their sellers bear considerable losses. At the same time, they can have even a fairly high quality, produced according to expensive developments and after a preliminary market research.

Also, a certain category of goods may become a failure, which is successful in other markets. In particular, this is often found in emerging markets, where sales of previously successful products may fall quite severely. Among other things, do not forget that one category of goods can be sold in different ways by different companies.

Why is this happening?

Among the largest number of possible causes, in this particular case, only one thing stands out - modern advertisers and marketers can not always correctly conduct a full analysis of their own product, and also can not feel all its subtleties. Practical experience suggests that the creative use of the subtleties of each product ultimately gives the implementer huge advantages, and in the same way, in the case of not taking into account some significant detail, the matter can completely turn into a failure.

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

How is the division carried out?

Product quality categories are the main way of conditional distribution of product groups. Our distant ancestors could easily list the main categories of services and products of their time without any difficulty, but in our realities this is practically impossible task, because modern people are surrounded by a huge variety of different products and categories, and every year they become more and more. At the same time, it is worth noting the fact that with each new year there are more and more of them. And this, too, must be properly understood.

Particular attention should be paid to the way the category of goods (products) is defined, which claims to be innovative, because initially such a product is not determined by any particular group. In this case, we 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 the English language, means a certain ordinary product, which you can buy almost anywhere. In particular, this includes such categories of goods in the store as vegetables and fruits, as well as many other things that are used all day to day.

The list of such categories is constantly increasing more and more due to the very "commododization". This phenomenon is due to the fact that due to the use of defect-free production, as well as the mass of other modern achievements, in the majority of categories, the quality of goods has already leveled to such an extent that it is almost unimportant for buyers who has the best chance to purchase a certain product.

Example

As an example, you can use products of a separate category - computers. If before, many could immediately distinguish the computer of a certain well-known brand from the "unnamed" version, resulting in the first give about 20-40% more compared to the last option, today many prefer to simply purchase a computer that has the appropriate characteristics suitable for customer requests . The same goes for faxes, phones and a whole series of other categories.

What to do in this situation?

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

Is it worth spending money on advertising these products?

A product of a certain category can be advertised using absolute banalities, but at the same time absolutely everyone will say "give me, please, three loaves", regardless of which particular brand is involved.

At the same time, if you make any 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 that could explain to ordinary users the basic The advantages they can derive from the modifications used. It should be noted that in the majority of cases, if your goods belong to the category subjected to "commoditization", such outstanding modifications can be quite clearly indicated on the packaging.

Growth of offers

In most categories, today there is a rapid growth of competing companies. In this regard, in addition to commoditization, this greatly complicates the purchasing choice, and sellers and marketers are becoming more and more difficult to engage in effective promotion of their own product.

Dynamic

The categories of goods and services vary among themselves in terms of dynamism. Some already exist for several decades or even centuries, as a result of which no one even expects any major changes in them. At the same time, very rapid changes are taking place in modern high-tech categories.

If in the first case, the advertiser is not enough to talk, since many know the basic information, in the second case, he often needs to explain a large number of facts to ensure effective sales for consumers who do not understand this area.

Softness

Organization of product categories also provides for a certain softness and rigidity. In this case, the term "softness" implies that the buyer can refuse to purchase goods from this group in the event that the market does not represent any preferred brand. Thus, if there is no Coca-Cola, then many can take Pepsi or some other drink, and in the absence of Mercedes, some decide not to wait a few months for the right car, but simply acquire another car.

Importance

It is necessary to understand correctly, for what reason modern people devote a large amount of time to the choice of certain products, while others buy almost without thinking. Here the whole point is that products are of different importance for a person, and in the majority of cases it is determined by the cost of a certain category of goods.

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

Goods

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

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

If everything is quite simple with recognizable products, then with a less obvious situation the situation is more complicated. At the same time, you need to understand correctly that there is a different degree of non-obviousness of the product, and as an example, you can bring the same computer that is easy to recognize by the form, but it will not be possible to determine its characteristics in this way.

The appearance of a large number of products can not even say anything about the basic purpose of such goods or talk about it only remotely. Thus, in the majority of cases, modern electronic devices are in appearance standard boxes.

The services

On average, almost 70% of the GDP of modern developed countries is provided at the expense of the services sector, and this sector has very high growth rates. With a huge variety of services, it is difficult to determine with any common features, and you can divide them into those that do not require direct participation of the customer in the process of implementation, as well as those that can not be performed without participation from the customer. Among the latter, it is possible to distinguish between medical, consulting, advertising and educational services, in the course of which the supplier must be able to correctly handle people.

Services differ from goods also due to the fact that in the case of such a need they can be changed simply enough, so that marketers have more creative space.

Goods and services

In the process of commoditization of various categories, the marketing struggle for extra bonuses as a result gradually begins to shift toward services. Thus, modern stores can compete not only in terms of the cost of the offered products, but also various services that provide a high speed of purchase, availability and price of delivery of purchased goods, parking and much more.

An experienced customer can even overpay for the goods a little if in this case he will be provided with better quality related services at an acceptable cost in comparison with competitors. At the same time, it is necessary to understand correctly that modern manufacturers and suppliers of various types of equipment often earn more through the services offered.