product prod‧uct [ˈprɒdʌkt ǁ ˈprɑː-] noun
1. [countable] COMMERCE something useful and intended to be sold that comes from nature or is made in a factory:
• Distributors for Amway sell numerous products, including cleaning and personal-care products.
• Companies must be able to launch new products (= introduce them ) quickly and alter existing ones.
• SL Industries designs, manufactures and distributes engineered products.
• There were thought to be no safety problems, but the company decided to withdraw the product (= no longer make it available ) so the incidents could be investigated.
2. milk/steel/tobacco/wood etc products products made from milk etc:
• Corning produces glass fiber and other specialty glass products.
• The bank offers products such as cash management and short-term loans.
4. [uncountable] COMMERCE products in general:
• He needed $6,000 more a month to invest in inventory, but didn't have it. As a result he couldn't keep enough product on the shelf.
1. [countable] a product that can be sold, rather than one still being developed:
• They had trouble converting promising research in drugs into commercial products.
comˌmodity ˈproduct
1. [countable] ECONOMICS a product such as a metal, farm product, oil etc:
• Canadian paper companies concentrate on commodity products such as pulp and newsprint, while US companies often concentrate on products with higher value added.
2. [countable] MARKETING a product that is hard to
differentiate (= make seem different) from other products of the same kind:
• PCs are becoming commodity products, with consumers just buying on price.
a product for use by people rather than businesses:
• the food and consumer products manufacturer Unilever
a product that copies a competitor's idea for a product:
• There has been a surge of copycat products, but we expected many companies to copy our approach to desktop video conferencing.
a main product that a company makes or sells, and which is very important to it:
• The company is withdrawing from software and refocusing on its core products in hardware.
deˌrivative ˈproduct [countable] FINANCE
a financial product such as a
Future or
option rather than the actual shares, currencies etc that they relate to. Options give the buyer the right to buy shares etc at a fixed price within a particular period of time, and futures allow the buyer to buy a fixed amount of a currency, farm product etc at a fixed price for delivery later:
• The unit was formed last year to trade interest-rate swaps, currency swaps and other derivative products.
a version of a product designed for someone buying this type of product for the first time. Entry-level products are usually the cheapest in a company's product range:
• On some entry-level products the company is also including simplified software for first-time users.
fiˌnancial ˈproduct [countable] FINANCE
a particular type of investment:
• Investors often find financial products increasingly complex and seek advice on how to buy and sell them.
a product that is sold under the general name for a type of product, rather than a brand name. Many medicines and drugs that you can buy are generic products:
• Although R&D spending is soaring, generic products are reducing the profitable life of brand-name drugs.
ˌgross ˈproduct [countable, uncountable] ECONOMICS
the total value of goods and services produced in a particular place:
• In California, farmers produce about 10% of the state's gross product.
a product that is one of the most expensive or advanced in a company's product range, or in the market as a whole:
• The company blamed the loss on higher costs and lower sales of high-end products.
ˌhigh-tech ˈproduct also hi-tech product [countable] COMMERCE
a product that is made using the most modern technical knowledge and methods:
• demand for new computers and other high-tech products
ˌhome ˈproduct
1. [countable] COMMERCE a product used in people's homes, such as furniture etc:
• Cosmetics account for 8%, accessories 9% and home products, including bed and bath items, 10%.
ˌhousehold ˈproduct [countable]
a cleaning product used in people's homes etc:
• household products such as Ajax cleanser and Palmolive dishwashing liquid
inˌdustrial ˈproduct [countable] COMMERCE
a product for use in industry and business, rather than by people for their own use:
• power transmission parts and other industrial products
a particular type of insurance contract:
• An insurance product called an immediate annuity pays a fixed sum each month for life or some other period.
inˈvestment ˌproduct [countable] FINANCE
• Purchasers of insurance and investment products are concerned about the financial strength of providers of these products.
a product that is one of the cheapest in a company's product range, or in the market as a whole:
• Polo shirts are increasingly a low-end product: 30% of them are now sold through discount outlets.
me-ˈtoo ˌproduct [countable] informal MARKETING
a product introduced by a company after it has seen that other companies are successful with the same type of product:
• In vodka, the shelves were full of me-too products that lacked taste or marketing support.
a product sold under a brand name owned by a company, rather than a
generic name (= a general name for a type of product):
• a proprietary product, called Danafate, that treats stomach ulcers
a product with special benefits for which buyers are willing to pay more. Producers are able to charge more for these products and therefore make more profit from them:
• The food service market includes both commodity and value-added products.
• The company's strong performance is due to its continued push into high-value-added products such as its Formula Shell high octane gas.
* * *
product UK US /ˈprɒdʌkt/ noun
► [
C or
U]
PRODUCTION sell/launch/withdraw a product »
The manufacturers had to withdraw the product because of a design fault.
»
We aim to develop more quality products over the coming year.
»
oil/steel products
»
agricultural/dairy products
► [
C]
FINANCE financial/insurance/investment, etc. product »
Improvement of the bank's financial product range formed part of the takeover bid.
► [
U]
COMMERCE »
They took all products containing the chemical off the shelves.
»
Large companies usually offer small retailers a deal where they only pay for the product sold during an agreed period.
→
See also AUGMENTED PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
augmented product),
BY-PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
by-product),
COMMERCIAL PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
commercial product),
COMMODITY PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
commodity product),
CONSUMER PRODUCTS(
Cf. ↑
consumer products),
COPYCAT(
Cf. ↑
copycat)
adjective,
CORE(
Cf. ↑
core)
adjective,
DERIVATIVE PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
derivative product),
DIFFERENTIATED(
Cf. ↑
differentiated),
END PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
end product),
ENTRY-LEVEL(
Cf. ↑
entry-level),
FINANCIAL PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
financial product),
GROSS PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
gross product),
HIGH-END(
Cf. ↑
high-end),
HOME PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
home product),
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
household product),
INDUSTRIAL(
Cf. ↑
industrial)
adjective,
INSURANCE PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
insurance product),
INVESTMENT PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
investment product),
LOW-END(
Cf. ↑
low-end)
adjective,
ME-TOO(
Cf. ↑
me-too),
PROPRIETARY(
Cf. ↑
proprietary),
SUBSTITUTE PRODUCT(
Cf. ↑
substitute product)