Whois & Analysis for personali.com

In sales, commerce and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a , buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for money or some other valuable consideration.

An ultimate etymology of "client" may imply someone merely to do business, whereas a purchaser procures goods or services on occasion but a customer customarily or habitually engages in transactions (historically: the collection of tolls or taxes - see ).

Such distinctions have no contemporary semantic weight.

In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need.

In retailing, products are called merchandise.

In manufacturing, products are bought as raw materials and sold as finished goods.

A service is another common product type.

An incentive is something that motivates an individual to perform an action.

The study of incentive structures is central to the study of all economic activities (both in terms of individual decision-making and in terms of co-operation and competition within a larger institutional structure).

Economic analysis, then, of the differences between societies (and between different organizations within a society) largely amounts to characterizing the differences in incentive structures faced by individuals involved in these collective efforts.

Ultimately, incentives aim to provide value for money and contribute to organizational success.

As such the design of incentive systems is a key management activity.