Product (business) facts for kids

A product is anything that is made or grown to be sold. Think of your favorite toy, a new pair of shoes, or even the food you eat – these are all products! They are created by people, often in factories or farms, and then offered to others who want or need them.

In Economics, which is the study of how people use resources, things that someone has and another person wants are called goods. If these goods are made by people, they are called products. If something is found in nature, like water from a spring or wood from a forest, it's called a natural resource.

What is a Product?

A product is basically anything that is created and can be offered to a market to satisfy a need or a want. It can be something you can touch, like a phone or a book. These are called physical products. Products are made through a process called production, which involves using raw materials and labor.

Different Kinds of Products

Products come in many shapes and sizes. We can group them into different types:

• Consumer Products: These are things people buy for their own use. Examples include clothes, food, electronics, and toys.
• Industrial Products: These are products bought by businesses to help them make other products or run their operations. For example, a factory might buy machines or raw materials like steel.
• Services: While not physical objects, services are also a type of product. A service is an action or activity that one person performs for another. Examples include getting a haircut, going to a doctor, or using a bus.

How Products are Made

Making a product usually involves several steps:

• Getting Raw Materials: This is where it all begins. Raw materials are the basic ingredients needed. For example, wood for a table or cotton for a T-shirt.
• Production: This is the actual making process. Workers use tools and machines to turn raw materials into the finished product.
• Quality Control: Before a product is sold, it's checked to make sure it works correctly and meets certain standards. This ensures customers get good quality items.
• Packaging: Products are often put into containers or wrappers to protect them and make them look appealing.
• Distribution: Once made, products need to get to the stores where people can buy them. This involves transportation, like trucks, trains, or ships.

Why Products are Important

Products are a huge part of our daily lives and the world's economy.

• They meet our needs, like food for hunger or clothes for warmth.
• They satisfy our wants, like entertainment from video games or comfort from a soft blanket.
• They create jobs for people who design, make, transport, and sell them.
• They help businesses grow and develop new technologies.

Think about how many products you use every day, from your toothbrush in the morning to your bed at night. Each one was made by someone, somewhere, to be sold and used.

Images for kids

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  Products on shelves at a Fred Meyer hypermarket superstore

See also

In Spanish: Producto (mercadotecnia) para niños