First of all, before considering how the category of goods is determined, you need to understand the basic terms. As products, absolutely everything appears that represents a certain value in the modern market and can be sold. Accordingly, the category of goods can be very different, and there are a lot of products among us, and each of them requires an absolutely unique marketing approach and the use of appropriate advertising solutions.
What is the problem?
Over time, it becomes more and more difficult to achieve any success on the modern market, because of the tens of thousands of diverse products that appear on the market every year, the overwhelming majority as a result completely disappears, and their implementers suffer considerable losses. Moreover, they can even be of fairly high quality, produced according to expensive developments, and after preliminary market research.
Also, a certain category of goods that is successful in other markets can be a failure. This is especially common in emerging markets, where sales of previously successful products can fall quite dramatically. Among other things, do not forget that one category of goods can be sold absolutely differently by different companies.
Why is this happening?
Among the huge number of possible reasons, only one stands out the most in this case - modern advertisers and marketers are far from always able to correctly conduct a full-fledged analysis of their own product, and also can not feel all its subtleties. Practical experience suggests that the creative use of the intricacies of each product as a result gives the seller enormous advantages, and in the same way, if some significant details are not taken into account, the case can completely turn into a failure.
The inability to conduct a creative analysis is explained by the fact that in modern literature it is quite difficult to determine a clear classification of products and understand which price categories of goods have which criteria. It is for this reason that many businessmen are trying to figure out what are the main differences between products of various categories and how to learn to understand and use them correctly in their work.
How is separation done?
Product quality categories are the main way to conditionally distribute product groups. Our distant ancestors could easily list the main categories of services and products of their time, but in our realities this is almost an impossible task, because modern people are surrounded by a huge variety of different products and categories, and each year there are more and more of them. At the same time, it is worth noting the fact that with each new year there are more and more of them. And this also needs to be understood correctly.
A special place should be allocated to how the category of goods (products) that claims to be innovative is determined, because initially such a product is not determined by any particular group. In this case, we only note the main trends and characteristics of the categories that may complicate the work of modern sellers and marketers.
Commoditization
The word commodity, which came to us from the English language, means a certain ordinary product that can be bought almost anywhere. In particular, this includes such categories of goods in the store as vegetables and fruits, as well as many other things that are used by everyone every day.
The list of such categories is constantly increasing more and more due to the very “commoditization”. This phenomenon is due to the fact that due to the use of defect-free production, as well as the mass of other modern achievements, in the overwhelming majority of categories, the quality of goods has already leveled to such an extent that it is practically unimportant for customers who is best to purchase a particular product from.
Example
As an example, you can use products of a separate category - computers. If earlier many could immediately distinguish a computer of a certain well-known brand from the “nameless” version, as a result of which they gave approximately 20-40% more than the last version for the first ones, today many prefer to simply purchase a computer that has the appropriate characteristics that are suitable for the needs of the consumer . The same goes for faxes, telephones, and a whole host of other categories.
What to do in such a situation?
In the event that a certain category of goods has been commoditized, it is necessary to determine or even create even more subtle selling points, as well as try to become more preferable due to the terms of delivery and payment, services, prices, ease of installation, guarantees and other related factors. In this case, you get a significant advantage for many buyers, as you offer the most optimal conditions for the acquisition of the product of interest to them.
Is it worth it to spend money on advertising such products?
A product of a certain category can be advertised using absolute platitudes, but at the same time, absolutely everyone will say, “give me three loaves, please,” regardless of which particular brand we are talking about.
At the same time, if you make any positive changes that actually exist in your standard product, that is, make it stand out in its category, then in this case it will already be possible to really think about using advertising, which could explain the basic users the benefits that they can get from the modifications used. It should be noted that in the overwhelming majority of cases, if your products belong to the category subjected to “commoditization”, such distinguished modifications are quite clearly indicated on the packaging.
Supply growth
In most categories, there is now a rapid growth in competing companies. In this regard, in addition to commoditization, this makes purchasing choice much more difficult, and it becomes more and more difficult for sellers and marketers to effectively promote their own product.
Dynamism
Categories of goods and services differ in dynamism. Some already exist for several decades or even centuries, as a result of which no one even expects any major changes in them. At the same time, very, very rapid changes are taking place in modern high-tech categories.
If in the first case the advertiser can speak quite little, since many people already know the basic information, then in the second he often has to explain a sufficiently large number of facts to consumers who are not versed in this field to ensure effective sales.
Softness
The organization of categories of goods also provides for a certain softness and rigidity. In this case, the concept of “softness” implies that the buyer can refuse to purchase goods from this group if he does not have any preferred brand on the market. Thus, if there is no Coca-Cola, then many can take Pepsi or some other drink, and in the absence of Mercedes, some decide not to wait for a few months for the right car, but simply purchase another car.
Importance
You need to understand correctly why modern people devote a lot of time to choosing certain products, while others buy almost without hesitation. Here the whole point is that products are of different importance for a person, and in the overwhelming majority of cases, it is determined by the cost of a certain category of goods.
Choosing really important products, many people are ready to process a large amount of selling information, and this must be taken into account correctly in the process of building an advertising campaign.
Products
According to many modern studies, there are more than a million different products on the market today, and in modern supermarkets you can see up to 40,000 products at the same time, each of which has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
The main goal of marketing is to know and understand the buyer well so that the goods or services he needs can be as accurate as possible and eventually begin to sell themselves. At the same time, one must correctly understand that not every product can sell itself, and this only happens if, just by looking at the product, a person can understand everything or at least a lot.
If with recognizable products everything is quite simple, then with less obvious situations the situation is more complicated. At the same time, you need to correctly understand that there is a different degree of non-obviousness of the product, and as an example you can bring the same computer, which is quite simple to recognize by sight, but it will not be possible to determine its characteristics in this way.
The appearance of a large number of products may not even say anything about the main purpose of such goods, or speak about it only remotely. Thus, in the predominant majority of cases, modern electronic devices look like standard boxes.
Services
On average, almost 70% of the GDP of modern developed countries is provided precisely by the services sector, and this sector has very, very high growth rates. With a huge variety of services, it is quite difficult to determine any common features, and you can divide them into those that do not require direct participation of the customer in the execution process, as well as those that cannot be performed without participation from the customer. Among the latter, one can distinguish medical, consulting, advertising and educational services, in the course of which the supplier must be able to properly handle people.
Services differ from goods also due to the fact that if such a need arises, they can be changed quite simply, as a result of which there is more creative space for marketers.
Goods and services
In the process of commoditization of various categories, the marketing struggle for extra bonuses as a result gradually begins to shift towards services. Thus, modern stores can compete not only in the cost of the products offered, but also in various services that ensure a high speed of purchase, the availability and price of delivery of purchased goods, parking and much more.
An experienced customer may even overpay for goods if they are provided with better quality related services at an affordable cost compared to competitors. At the same time, one must correctly understand that modern manufacturers and suppliers of various types of equipment often earn more due to the proposed service.