In order for businesses to be successful, they must be able to identify and fulfil the needs of their customers. These are essentially motives or factors that drive customers to purchase products or services.
Customer needs come in various forms; among the most common are:
Understanding the needs of their customers helps businesses in creating or innovating products and services
Price – While many might be attracted to low prices, ultimately customers want to buy products or services that are well worth spending on. They are even willing to compare prices between different sellers in their purchasing decision when it comes to similar products.
Thus, businesses should ensure that the price they set match the quality of the product or service they are selling.
Quality – Regardless on the amount of money they spend on a product or service, customers tend to expect certain levels of quality.
In general, low-priced products or services suggest low level of quality, while high-priced ones mean high level of product or service quality.
Reliability and Sustainability – Product quality is usually linked to reliability, meaning customers depend on a product’s ability to perform well for a reasonable period of time, especially when it is priced highly.
Customers are also increasingly environmentally conscious; as such businesses should consider creating or innovating sustainable products that enables them to play their part in protecting the environment.
Choice – Where businesses are targeting various groups of customers, offering a range of product and/or service is vital to meet diverse customer needs and desires. These can come in different styles or sizes, or entirely different products that cater to a particular target customer.
Online businesses have the advantage of making a wider range of product and/or service available to their customers. In comparison, brick-and-mortar businesses are only able to display a limited range due to lack of space in their physical premise.
Convenience – Some customers are willing to pay more for a product or service if they are offered the convenience to obtain them, as seen in their use of mobile devices to purchase items online.
To illustrate, rather than travelling to a store or a restaurant, these customers are willing to pay an additional delivery fee to have the clothes or food they buy online sent to their doorstep.
