Types of Products

Core product: It is the fundamental service or benefit that a customer is really buying. It is the basic need of a customer. Let’s take an example to understand it better- whenever a customer books a room in a hotel his/her basic need is rest and sleep. So he is buying rest and sleep from the hotel. Marketers must see themselves as benefit providers.

Basic product: At the second level the marketer has to turn the core benefit into a basic product. Continuing with the same example, a hotel room includes a bed, bathroom, towels, desk, dresser and so on. These things form a part of the basic product which a hotel supplies to its customer.

Expected product: expected products are the set of attributes and conditions buyers normally expect when they purchase a particular product. In the same example of a customer booking a room in a hotel, what he expects is a clean bed, fresh towels, working lamps, and a relative degree of silence.

Augmented product: It is that product which exceeds a customer’s expectations. It is something which a customer does not expect at the time of purchasing but gets it with the product. It may in the form of product or service and is the added and unexpected advantage received with a product. Example- Some company (say, Harmit and co.) might be having a scheme of a year’s maintenance free with the purchase of a particular machine.

Potential product: A potential product encompasses all the possible augmentations and transformations the product might undergo in the future. In this type of product a company searches for new ways for satisfying customers and distinguish their offer with those of their competitors. Some companies add benefit to their offering- they not only satisfy their customers but also surprise and delight their customers. Delighting is a matter of exceeding the customer’s expectations. Let’s take an example- a hotel guest finding a bowl of fruit or a video recorder with optional video tapes or some perfume of his choice in his room will get more than he had thought of. An example of one such hotel is the Ritz-Carlton. It remembers individual preferences of their guests and prepares rooms with the preferences in mind.