The same goes for products and services: it is easy to identify soap as a product and a haircut as a service. But what about restaurants? They sell food, which is a product, but they are essentially a service. How do you tell the difference?
Understanding this and being clear about what our company thailand telegram sells is important in order to know what key aspects we must take into account in our marketing strategies.
5 key differences between products and services
1. Tangible Vs. Intangible
This is the main difference. A product is something you can perceive with your senses: you see it, touch it, smell it, and in some cases, you even hear it or taste it. A service, on the other hand, you cannot perceive. Or can you perceive the service of a hair salon?
At this point, you might say, “I can perceive my haircut,” and I would reply, “Yes, but you can only perceive it after you have ‘consumed’ it.” The difference between tangible and intangible comes at the time of sale, not purchase, which makes services harder to sell.
This is why services must use tangible elements to convey feelings and ideas before the purchase and make the client imagine what it will be like to consume that service. Continuing with the case of hairdressing, these could be photographs of other clients showing off their haircuts or even short videos showing the processes. Even the atmosphere of the salon and the presentation of the staff give an idea of the quality of the service.
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2. Involvement vs. Acquisition
As we saw in the previous aspect, services only become tangible until they are consumed. In other words, services do not start if there is no customer.
This difference is what makes a restaurant a service and not a product. The ingredients, the chefs and the tables are there whether you are there or not, but only when you order what you are going to eat, that dish materializes. Whereas, a packet of chips in a vending machine will be there whether you buy it or not.
This means that a key aspect of most services is that they are tailor-made. Sure, there is a menu in the restaurant, but that dish they are going to make is just for you. The same applies if you have a suit made, if you go shopping at the supermarket, or if you visit the doctor.