Skip to main content

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOODS AND SERVICES

There is a major difference between goods and services based on both tangible as well as intangible factors. Goods are basically objects or products which have to be manufactured, stored, transported, marketed and sold. Lays chips, BMW, Adidas are some companies manufacturing goods.
Services on the other hand are output of individuals and they can be a collective or individualistic action or performance by an individual. For example a barber or a chartered accountant are giving individual services. Airlines on the other hand have airplanes which is a product but travelling by airplanes is a service (airlines are one of the most competitive service sectors today).
Thus the difference between goods and services is based on tangibility. Where goods are tangible in nature, services are mostly intangible. The classic rules which defined services were intangibility, heterogeneity, perishability and variability. However, although the old rules are applicable even today, several new rules have been added to define the difference between goods and services.
The below mentioned 8 points help you in noticing how goods and services differ.
Ownership is not transferred – When buying a service, the service ownership is not transferred to the end customer. If you buy a car then the car is yours. But if you buy a ticket for an airline, then the airline is definitely not yours.
Intangibility – How do you measure service? In a restaurant, the dish can be measured, but the efforts gone in making the same dish by two different chefs cannot be measured from the customer end. Same goes for large service corporates like Accenture and Infosys. The time and effort gone for giving service to the customer is intangible. Both ownership and intangibility are old school differences between goods and services.
Involvement of customer – When comparing the difference between goods and services we have to look at the involvement of customer as well. In services involvement of customers is much more than in products. For example – ATM’s are services wherein customer has to use the machine. The same goes for vending machines as well as for self service restaurants. Today ice cream chains like Hokey pokey and food chain like Subway have more than 50% involvement of customer where the customer gets to decide the ingredients they want in their ice cream / Sub.
Quality – In case of products, mass manufacturing is common. And mass manufacturing means uniformity. However, services involve a lot of manual labour due to which the quality may vary each time. Uniformity in services is a factor which each service owner tries for. For example – The major challenge of food chains like Subway, Pizza hut and dominos is to give the same quality over and over again, whereas in local restaurants the quality of food may vary time to time from the same restaurant.
Evaluation of services is tougher – As quality varies from time to time and the involvement of customer is maximum, evaluation of different services becomes tougher. But how do we evaluate how a barber cuts your hair.
Inventories are absent – Production and consumption of services happens at the same time. This does not mean that the raw material is not present to provide the service. For example in a restaurant, a dish is made only after you order it. The raw material and the chef might be present. But the production does not begin unless and until there is a customer to consume the service.
Time is very important in services – Because inventories are absent in services, and because production and consumption is at the same time, time is a very important difference between goods and services. The keyword here is “delay”. There should be no delay in providing the service. Thus the cab should arrive on time, the food should be prepared by time and the trains should run on time. Because time is important.
Thus the difference between goods and services is based on many different factors. These factors are become more and more acute as the services sector rises in demand.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TISS YAPATA BOSS MPYA.

  Rais wa Jamuhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania Dkt.Samia Suluhu Hassan, Amemteua Bw.Said Hussein Masoro kuwa Mkurugenzi mkuu wa Idara ya Usalama wa taifa,Kuchukua nafasi ya Kamishina Diwani Athuman Msuya  Ambaye ameteuliwa kuwa Katibu Mkuu Ikulu. Kabla ya Uteuzi huo Bw.Masoro alikua akihudumu katika Idara ya Usalama wa Taifa kama Naibu Mkurugenzi mkuu na Mkurugenzi wa shughuli za  ndani wa Usalama wa Taifa. Wakati huo huo Rais Dkt.Samia amemteua Balozi Hussein Othman Katanga Kuwa Balozi wa Tanzania mjini New York, Nchini Marekani na muwakilishi wa kudumu wa Umoja wa Mataifa. Balozi Katanga anachukia nafasi ya Balozi Profesa Kennedy Gaston,Ambaye Uteuzi wake umetenguliwa. Balozi Katanga kabla ya Uteuzi huu alikua Katibu Mkuu Kiongozi. Vile vile Mhe.Rais Dkt.Samia amemteua Bw.Moses Mpogole Kusiluka Kuwa Katibu Mkuu Kiongozi,Ambapo kabla ya Uteuzi huo alikua Katibu Mkuu Ikulu. Taarifa Rasimi Kutoka Kurugenzi ya mawasiliano ya Raisi Ikulu iliyotolewa mapema Jana Januari 3,2023, i...
Post a Comment
Read more

JESHI LA POLISI LATANGAZA AJIRA KWA MWAKA 2012/2013 KWA WAHITIMU WATARAJIWA WA VYUO

TANGAZO LA AJIRA Jeshi la Polisi Tanzania katika mwaka wa fedha 2013/2014 litaajiri vijana kutoka katika makundi yafuatayo: waliomaliza kidato cha nne mwaka 2012, kidato cha sita mwaka 2013, JKT/JKU mwaka 2013 na vyuo vya elimu ya juu mwaka 2013. Taratibu zinakamilishwa ili waliomaliza kidato cha nne na sita na waliojaza fomu za maombi kabla ya kumaliza mitihani yao ya mwisho waitwe kwenye usaili. Usaili wa vijana wa JKT umekamilika mapema mwezi Aprili, 2013. Tangazo hili linawaalika vijana walioko kwenye vyuo vya elimu ya juu nchini watakaohitimu masomo hivi karibuni na wanaopenda kujiunga na Jeshi la Polisi kujaza fomu za maombi zinazopatikana kwenye tovuti ya Polisi kwa anuani www.policeforce.go.tz www.policeforce.go.tz Fomu za waombaji baada ya kujazwa kikamilifu ziletwe na mkuu wa chuo kabla ya tarehe 30/6/2013 kwa: Inspekta Jenerali wa Polisi, Makao Makuu ya Polisi, S.L.P. 9141, DAR ES SALAAM . Fani zinazotakiwa ni; Shahada za Menejimenti ...
Post a Comment
Read more

GET TO KNOW EXTENDED MARKERTING MIX

The extended marketing mix is, as the name suggests, an extension of the marketing mix which was traditionally for products. The 4P’s are also known as product marketing mix. As services came more into the picture it was seen that the 4p’s could not justify the marketing mix. There were 3 more elements which were necessary to actually explain the marketing of services. When products began offering services, the extended marketing mix began applying to products as well (like Maruti service stations where Maruti is a product and the service station is a service). These are the elements which were added to the marketing mix to form the extended marketing mix. In the above figure, the product marketing mix are the first four P’s and the next 3 P’s are added to make the Extended Marketing mix. This extended marketing mix is also known as the service marketing mix. The four PS mainly constituted the following 4 elements Product Price Place Prom...
Post a Comment
Read more