Customer

Customer

A customer is an individual or business that purchases the goods or services produced by a business. At the most basic level, a customer is an entity that exchanges money for goods or services.

Definition

The term "customer" is most commonly associated with someone who purchases goods or services, but Joseph Pine, the author of The Experience Economy, also refers to customers who operate on the digital marketplace. In a broader sense, the term can also refer to any entity that uses or experiences the services of another. A customer may also be a viewer of the product or service that is being sold despite deciding not to buy them.

Types of customers

Customers of a given business have been divided into two broad categories:

• Business-to-business (B2B) - These are other businesses that buy products or services to use in their daily operations or in the production of their own goods or services.
• Business-to-consumer (B2C) - These are individual consumers who buy products or services for personal use.

Customer behavior

Customer behavior studies individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, marketing and economics. It attempts to understand the decision-making processes of buyers, both individually and in groups such as how emotions affect buying behavior.

Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is part of the four of a Balanced Scorecard.

See also

• Consumer
• Client
• User (computing)
• Buyer
• Customer service
• Customer relationship management

References

Customer Resources
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