Inmarketing, aproduct is an object, or system, or service made available forconsumer use as of the consumer demand; it is anything that can be offered to a domestic or an international market to satisfy the desire or need of acustomer.[1] Inretailing, products are often referred to asmerchandise, and inmanufacturing, products are bought asraw materials and then sold asfinished goods. Aservice is also regarded as a type of product.
Inproject management, products are the formal definition of theproject deliverables that make up or contribute to delivering the objectives of the project.
A related concept is that of a sub-product, a secondary but useful result of aproduction process.
Dangerous products, particularly physical ones, that cause injuries to consumers or bystanders may be subject toproduct liability.
Eurail, a type of rail pass for multiple journeys by train, an intangible product
A product can be classified astangible orintangible. A tangible product is an actual physical object that can be perceived by touch such as a building, vehicle, gadget, or clothing. An intangible product is a product that can only be perceived indirectly such as an insurance policy. Theseservices can be broadly classified under intangible products, which can bedurable or nondurable.
In its online product catalog, retailerSears, Roebuck and Company divides its products into "departments", then presents products to potential shoppers according to (1) function or (2) brand.[2] Each product has a Sears item number and a manufacturer's model number. Sears uses the departments and product groupings with the intention of helping customers browse products by function or brand within a traditionaldepartment-store structure.[3]
Aproduct line is "a group of products which are closely related, either because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges".[4] Many businesses offer a range of product lines (their "product mix") which may be unique to a single organisation or may be common across the business's industry. Within theinsurance industry, product lines are indicated by the type of risk coverage, such asauto insurance, commercialinsurance andlife insurance.[citation needed] Companies such asPepsi andCoca-Cola are considered to have a very large and diverse product mix.[5][6] Some companies use a large product mix to reach a number of market segments.[7]
In 2002 theUS Census compiled revenue figures for the finance and insurance industry by various product lines such as "accident, health and medical insurance premiums" and "income from secured consumer loans".[8]
National and international product classifications
Various classification systems for products have been developed for economic statistical purposes. The NAFTA signatories are working on a system that classifies products called NAPCS as a companion to theNorth American Industry Classification System (NAICS).[9] The European Union uses a "Classification of Products by Activity" among other product classifications.[10] The United Nations also classifies products for international economic activity reporting.[11]
TheAspinwall Classification System[12][13] classifies and rates products based on five variables:
Replacement rate (How frequently is the product repurchased?)
Gross margin (How much profit is obtained from each product?)
Buyer goal adjustment (How flexible are the buyers' purchasing habits with regard to this product?)
Duration of product satisfaction (How long will the product produce benefits for the user?)
Duration of buyer search behavior (How long will consumers shop for the product?)
The National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP)[14] developed a commodity and services classification system for use by state and local governments, theNIGP Code.[15] The NIGP Code is used by 33 states within the United States as well as thousands of cities, counties and political subdivisions. The NIGP Code is a hierarchical schema consisting of a 3 digit class, 5 digit class-item, 7 digit class-item-group, and an 11 digit class-item-group-detail.[16] Applications of the NIGP Code include vendor registration, inventory item identification, contract item management, spend analysis, and strategic sourcing.
A manufacturer usually provides an identifier for each particular design of product they make, known as amodel,model variant, ormodel number (often abbreviated asMN,M/N ormodel no., and sometimes asM- or Mk). For example,Dyson Ltd, a manufacturer of appliances (mainly vacuum cleaners), requires customers to identify their model in the support section of the website.[17]Brand and model can be used together to identify products in the market. The model number is not necessarily the same as themanufacturer part number (MPN).[18]
Because of the huge amount of similar products in theautomotive industry, there is a special kind of defining a car with options (marks, attributes) that represent the characteristics features of the vehicle. A model of a car is defined by some basic options like body, engine, gearbox, and axles. The variants of a model (often called thetrim levels) are built by some additional options like color, seats, wheels, mirrors, other trims, entertainment and assistant systems, etc. Options, that exclude each other (pairwise) build an option family. That means that you can choose only one option for each family and you have to choose exactly one option.
In addition, a specific unit of a product is often (and in some contexts must be) identified by aserial number, which is necessary to distinguish products with the same product definition. In the case of automotive products, it is called thevehicle identification number (VIN), an internationally standardised format.
Many of these types of product information are regulated to some degree, such as to some degree prohibiting false or misleading product information or requiring sellers or manufacturers to specify various information such as ingredients of food-, pharmaceutical- and hygiene-products. There also isstandardization. Marketing to entice the shopper[19] is often prioritized over accurate, high-quality or extensive and relevant information.
Product information is often a key element in thebuyer decision process. Relevant factors include trust in the accuracy of the information and social normative pressure.[24][25] Easily accessible and up-to-date medicinal product information can contribute to thehealth literacy.[26] Online shopping is usually more informationally rich than shopping at physical stores traveled to and usually has higher comparability and customizability.[19]
Production information-related developments can be useful for enabling, facilitating, or shifting towardssustainable consumption and support moresustainable products. Environmentallife-cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely used for to assess environmental impacts across the life cycle of products.[27] There areLCA datasets that assess all products in some supermarkets in a standardized way.[28][29] Consumers may seek reliableinformation to evaluate relevant characteristics of products such as durability and reliability.[30] Development of 'transparency by design' scenarios have been suggested to "complement the physical product with layers of digital information", improving transparency and traceability (T&T).[31] The app CodeCheck gives some smartphone users some capability to scan products for assessed ingredients.[32][33] Many labels are considered to be flawed and few have the time to "study the true environmental impact of every purchase". Full product transparency is a concept of making the full life-cycle impacts public.[34] An important element that is required for various product information issupply chain transparency, which relates to human rights andsupply chain sustainability.[35][36]
Produce traceability makes it possible to track produce from its point of origin to a retail location where it is purchased by consumers.
Producetraceability is an important link in protecting public health since it allows health agencies to more quickly and accurately identify the source ofcontaminated fruit or vegetables believed to be the cause of anoutbreak offoodborne illness, remove them from the marketplace, and communicate to the supply chain.
In the EU, under the renewedSustainable Product Policy Initiative, the inclusion of aDigital Product Passport has been proposed.[37][38] Amaterial passport is a document consisting of all the materials that are included in a product or construction. It consists of a set of data describing defined characteristics of materials in products, useful for recovery,recycling, re-use and various evaluations. They may contribute to a morecircular economy.
Product information management (PIM) is the process ofmanaging all the information required to market and sell products throughdistribution channels. This product data is created by an internal organization to support amultichannel marketing strategy. A central hub of product data can be used to distribute information to sales channels such ase-commerce websites, print catalogues, marketplaces such asAmazon andGoogle Shopping, social media platforms likeInstagram and electronicdata feeds to trading partners. Moreover, the significant role that PIM plays is reducing theabandonment rate by giving better product information.[39]
wide array of products and/or complex product data set
frequently changing product characteristics
increasing number of sales channels
non-uniform information technology infrastructure (plethora of data sources and formats)
^When an online Sears customer goes to the "Parts and accessories" section of the website to find parts for a particular Sears item, the "model number" field actually requires a Sears item number, not a manufacturer's model number. This is a typical problem with product codes or item codes that are internally assigned by a company but do not conform to an external standard.
^Kotler, Philip; Gary Armstrong (1989).Principles of Marketing, fourth edition (Annotated Instructor's ed.). Prentice-Hall, Inc. pp. 639 (glossary definition).ISBN0-13-706129-3.
^Jahn, Gabriele; Schramm, Matthias; Spiller, Achim (1 March 2005). "The Reliability of Certification: Quality Labels as a Consumer Policy Tool".Journal of Consumer Policy.28 (1):53–73.doi:10.1007/s10603-004-7298-6.ISSN1573-0700.S2CID154681347.
^Horne, Ralph E. (March 2009). "Limits to labels: The role of eco-labels in the assessment of product sustainability and routes to sustainable consumption".International Journal of Consumer Studies.33 (2):175–182.doi:10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00752.x.
^Barata, João; da Cunha, Paulo Rupino (1 February 2021). "Augmented product information: crafting physical-digital transparency strategies in the materials supply chain".The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology.112 (7):2109–2121.doi:10.1007/s00170-020-06446-9.hdl:10316/115189.ISSN1433-3015.S2CID234046442.
