By its very nature, marketing requires companies and organisations to develop new ideas and make adjustments to their marketing efforts. New concepts, designs and products are essential for responding to the ever-changing demands of the target market/s, and are crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction, which ultimately leads to increased revenues and profits for the firm. New-product development dictates the company’s future in the market.
Every person’s wants are unlimited; however, a person’s needs are narrowed to a limited amount. A product is something that can satisfy people’s wants and needs. It is one of the variables in the marketing mix (one of the ‘7P’s’). A product can be considered as the most important item in the marketing mix, since ultimately the marketing mix revolves around the Product. It can be offered to the market in the form of goods, services, ideas, events etc,
The following are the classification of goods . This is crucial information for marketers as market segmentation exercises are carried out within the company in order to target certain groups of customers with specific use-related and use-situated needs. Below are four main classifications of goods;
Convenience Goods - these are those goods which are bought on a daily basis, products of this type are usually considered as needs. These are goods such as milk, bread, detergents etc…
Shopping Goods – these are mostly semi-durable goods which are purchased less frequently then convenience goods. These cost more than convenience goods, thus people tend to choose products over others in a process of choosing the preferred alternative. Clothes and white goods are ordinary examples
Specialty Goods – these are goods which are bought infrequently. If a person decides to purchase a specialty good, one will take time on choosing the good, since these goods are much more costly than the two previously mentioned. When this type of good is bought after sales service is