GLOSSARY
COMPETENCY:7.00Identify product decisions necessary for a small business.
Branding: Selecting products/services that have a name, symbol, or design for identification.
Competition: The struggle between companies for the same customers or market.
Consumer products: Products used by consumers for family, personal, or household purposes.
Consumer services: Activities used by consumers for family, personal, or household purposes.
Convenience goods: Inexpensive products that are purchased regularly and require little time and effort for purchase decisions.
Emergency goods: Goods purchased to satisfy an immediate need.
Goods: Tangible, physical products that satisfy a want or need.
Impulse goods: Items that are purchased without advance planning.
Industrial goods: Goods purchased by a business and used to produce other goods or for resale to consumers.
Industrial services: Activities used by a business to insure proper operation, or contracted by a business to perform a task.
Manufacturer: Producer of goods to sell to other manufacturers, wholesalers, and/or retailers.
Market/product position: The image a product or business has in relation to its competition.
Market research: (1) A system for collecting, recording, and analyzing information about customers, competitors, products, and services. (2) The process of investigating facts about a specific market.
Market share: (1) A percentage of the total market that is controlled by a business. (2) A portion of the total sales generated by all the competing companies in a given market.
Non-good services: Personal or professional services performed for a fee.
Owned-goods services: Services that alter, improve, or repair products owned by the customer.
Packaging: Physical appearance of a product, container, or wrapper.
Product consistency: The relationship of items in a business’s product line in terms of use, price range, target market, and methods of distribution and production.
Product item: A specific model, brand, or size of product within a product line.
Product length/depth: The number of product items offered within a product line.
Product life cycle: The evolution of a product/service during its life on the market.
Product line: A group of closely related products manufactured and/or sold by a business.
Product mix: All the products and services a business makes or sells.
Product mix strategy: A plan of action taken in selecting an appropriate product/service mix to achieve the goals of the business.
Product-related services: Activities offered with or to compliment a product.
Product/service planning: The process of developing the product/service mix for a business by incorporating decisions relating to market opportunities.
Product width/breadth: The number of different product lines a business manufactures or sells.
Pure services: Activities performed that do not include a tangible product.
Rented-goods service: The service of making products available for customer use for a brief period of time for a fee.
Services: (1) Tasks performed for the customer for a fee. (2) Intangible or conceptual products produced to satisfy a want or need.
Shopping goods: Products that usually require a great deal of time and effort for the purchase decision.
Specialty goods: Products that are sought by a consumer who desires a specific brand or product.
Staple goods: Goods used often or regularly and which are kept on hand.
Trade shows: Special meetings, shows, and exhibitions allowing vendors and manufacturers to introduce new items, display products, and promote established products/services.
Wholesalers: Middlemen who obtain goods from manufacturers and resell them to industrial users, other wholesalers, and/or retailers.
Small Business Entrepreneurship
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