In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need. In retail, products are called merchandise. In manufacturing, products are purchased as raw materials and sold as finished goods. Commodities are usually raw materials such as metals and agricultural products, but the term can also refer to anything widely available in the open market. In project management, products are the formal definition of the project deliverables that form the objectives of the project.

Goods are a physical product capable of being delivered to a purchaser and involve the transfer of ownership from seller to customer.

A service is a non-material action resulting in a measurable change of state for the purchaser caused by the provider.

Ideas (intellectual property) are any creation of the intellect that has commercial value, but is sold or traded only as an idea, and not as a resulting service or good. This includes copyrighted property such as literary or artistic works, and ideational property, such as patents, appellations of origin, business methods, and industrial processes.