Finished product is considered each product that has undergone the transformation process needed to be marketed as such. In economics, it is a set of tangible and intangible attributes to provide a benefit to a user and in marketing it is part of the four elements (along with price, distribution and communication) that constitute the marketing mix (the combination of controllable variables that companies employ to achieve its goals).
More precisely a product is the good or service that is offered (sold) in a market to meet specific needs of consumers.
A product starts from a basic form (core), then can be expanded in line with requirements of market and company.
- Core product is the product or service that consumers buy to satisfy a need.
- Expected product includes other parts of a product, not essential, but which combine to provide benefits: quality, design, technical features, brand.
- Augmented product includes a bundle of benefits, namely a bundle of additional services and benefits offered to the customer: guarantee, free delivery, installation …
- Potential product is virtually everything you can offer the consumer to meet the needs of which he has not yet awareness.
Each product follows its own life cycle in the market, represented by the following steps:
- Introduction – the product is introduced into the production system
- Development – demand expands as well as sales and new features are added to the product
- Maturity – the company that originally launched the product should defend market share achieved, in practice it must ensure that buyers do not enter the competition
- Decline – sales begin to fall gradually.