Goods are generally defined as any product that is used to satisfy some desire or need. Goods can be confused with services since services are also products that satisfy a consumers desire or need. However, they differ in that goods are always tangible physical product, while services are not.
Basic examples of goods are food, furniture, electronic equipment, clothes, and more. Examples of services are housecleaning services, legal advice, and health care.
Quite often, businesses and companies selling goods also sell services to go complement the goods. These services make purchasing the goods a more attractive option for the consumers. Examples of such goods and services bundled together are service warranties for electronic equipment, and the good customer service from restaurants, which are primarily selling food and not the service.
Goods are also bundled with other goods as a marketing strategy. Most of the time, goods that complement each other are sold together as packages, although sometimes unrelated goods manufactured by the same company are bundled together so that the lesser known product will get a marketing boost. Examples of complementary goods bundled together include toothbrush and toothpastes, oatmeal and milk, and entertainment systems.
Goods are very important in any country’s economy because its production, importation, and exportation, create revenue for governments. This revenue is collected by imposing taxes on different types of goods, starting from production down to the consumer level where some governments impose value added tax when goods are bought. Tax breaks are often given to industries that manufacture and trade in goods that a country wants to encourage to grow.
