The difference between customers and consumers

While brands may use the words customers and consumers interchangeably, there is a distinct difference between the two.

Diane Frick, head of CX and digital at Workwear Group spoke to Digital Nation about how it is important to differentiate between customers and consumers.

She said customers are those that do business with a brand and consumers are those consuming the end product a business created.

“Where you've got those two balances, your customers are interested in the service design, how do we do business with them? The consumers are interested in the product design, what is it that they're wearing, buying, making sure that it's fit for purpose?” she said.  

Frick explained that understanding product design is about understanding the customers who are wearing those products and understanding service design is understanding that customers that are doing business with them.

“There's two different user groups, if you look at the customers, things that are important to that customer might be efficiency, it might be price, might be margin. For retailers, how do I make sure I'm clearing this product as quickly as possible, give me the tools to do that and do it at a great price,” she said.

“For our customers that are purchasing on behalf of other wearers, then they might be looking at, again, efficiency, but also looking at being the expert and guiding me on this process, what should I be thinking about from my end wearers?

"You're needing to tell me about some of these product benefits, and then tell me about what's important to those end wearers.”

Frick said this is where they flip back into consumer mode because consumers will tell them this is what I like and don’t like about the product.

“Same with retailers, if the end consumer doesn't like our product, then they won't ever be able to clear them off the shelves,” she added.

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