General characteristics of the market for goods and services. Commodity market: concept, composition and features

And services. The goods market is the primary form of the market. Here the purchase and sale of consumer goods and means of production takes place. Therefore, it is divided into the consumer market and the market for means of production. The subjects of this market are individuals or legal entities entering into commodity exchange relations as buyers or sellers.

In the consumer market, personal consumption goods (food, clothing, shoes, cars, household items, etc.) are exchanged. The sellers here are firms and individual commodity producers that produce these goods and provide services. The bulk of goods are sold through intermediaries. The market for consumer goods directly reflects the interaction of production and consumption, demand and supply of goods.

Sellers in the capital goods market are individuals and firms that create production products (machines, tools, raw materials, factory buildings, electricity, etc.). Buyers in the capital goods market include individuals and organizations involved in the production of other goods and services.

In each country, the structure of production of goods and services must correspond to the structure of effective demand. However, in Ukraine today there is a large disproportion between the development of industries producing consumer goods and industries producing means of production. Approximately 75% of social production accounts for means of production (and only 20% of their volume are tools of labor, and 80% are fuel and raw materials) and only about a quarter for consumer goods. Such a deformed production structure does not correspond to public interests and requires significant changes.

The main mechanism of the goods market is trade. It's like this economic activity, which is aimed at organizing and conducting the sale of goods. There are wholesale (wholesale) and retail trade. Wholesale trade acts as an intermediary trade between industrialists and traders, as well as between the traders themselves. IN wholesale trade implementation is taking place large batches goods. Retail is the sale of goods directly to consumers individually. Retail trade is carried out through shops, kiosks, catering establishments, etc. The price in the goods market is formed as the price of equilibrium between supply and demand.

An important component of the structure of the goods market is the services market. A service is a special consumer benefit, which is expressed in a beneficial effect that satisfies the needs of an individual, a group or society. The peculiarity of a service as a product (in comparison with ordinary goods, with a material benefit) is that it is useful not as a material thing, but as an activity. Therefore, the consumption of services coincides with the process of their creation, with activity, and they cannot be stored or transported as goods - material goods.

It is necessary to distinguish between personal services that satisfy the needs of an individual, for example, education, health care, cultural and consumer services, and services that satisfy collective and public needs (protection of public order, defense, social management, etc.). In addition, one part of the services relates to the field material production(For example, renovation work), and the other - to the sphere of intangible production. Special subtypes of commodity markets, the role of which has increased significantly in Lately, is the information market and the intellectual property market.

At the current stage of development of scientific and technological progress, when both the country’s foreign economic relations and economic mechanisms in individual countries have become significantly more complicated and deepened, great importance acquires timely and accurate information on a particular issue, without which further movement forward becomes impossible. In this regard, the information market has formed and functions along with others as a set of economic relations regarding the collection, processing, systematization of information and its sale to the end consumer.

Information is a rare good, the acquisition of which requires certain costs. Intermediaries appear between the producer and the consumer in the information market, whose main function is to collect, process and sell various information. For this type of service, intermediaries charge a fee in the form of commissions. For example, dealers of government valuable papers in developed countries of the world they accept 1/32% of the selling price. A special price in the information market is the advertising fee. In Ukraine, the information market has not yet formed, although today the need for it is acutely felt.

The market for intellectual property borders the information market. Intellectual property consists of copyrights and patents. This should also include various licenses, projects, know-how, scientific forecasts and the like. The peculiarity of intellectual property is that it is a unique product because it cannot be separated from a person and therefore is not subject to the law of value. Everyone who owns intellectual property should have the right to exercise it.

An important element of the intellectual property market today is know-how (literally translated from English as “know how”) - this is the totality of technical knowledge and production, commercial and other experience necessary for the manufacture of some product or reproduction production process. Know-how also includes unpublished inventions and technical cooperation agreements.

Information such as know-how is realized by concluding a contract and transferring it to the consumer in the form technical documentation(various drawings, projects, diagrams, feasibility studies, technological maps, techniques, various calculations, formulas, etc.) and oral information or display. Unfortunately, this type of market in Ukraine has not yet been formed and therefore does not operate. Only the process of its formation begins.

Information about sources.

The services market means a set of economic legal relations between sellers and buyers, the object of which is the purchase and sale of the most various types services.

It should be noted that it is almost impossible to draw a clear line between the market for goods and services. After all, the provision of a service is often accompanied by the sale of goods. In addition, often the service itself becomes a product. The quality of the services market directly depends on the level of development of the market economy as a whole. Its structure, as well as the degree of development, determine the competitiveness of the country.

What specific features are inherent in the services market?

The main specificity of the services market is the peculiarities of the result of labor of workers in the non-material sphere. They are embodied in material forms, for example, paintings or literary works, which cannot be classified as a material product. In this case, we can talk about transformation, in the process of which spiritual activity takes on a completely tangible, material form. Sometimes labor does not receive material embodiment in a certain object, however, its result has real consumer value.

The purchase and sale of a certain service also has its own specifics. As a rule, the production of a service, its transfer to the buyer and consumption are combined in time. Services cannot be accumulated for future use, and they cannot be resold by one buyer to another. In the process of selling a product, its owner changes, while its properties and characteristics remain unchanged. If we talk about a service, then in the process of consuming it, the buyer does not purchase it.

Features of the modern services market

The main features of the services market include the following:

• High level of dynamism of market processes. The service itself is subject to significant changes under the influence of both temporary or geographical factors, as well as fluctuations in demand and supply for certain services.

• Local character, which is formed under the influence of territorial specifics. Thus, a market is formed in a certain territory, the socio-economic characteristics of which differ from others. As a rule, it is localized within one territorial entity.

• Significant turnover rate Money. This feature is due to the shorter production cycle and represents one of the main advantages of the service sector.

• High level of sensitivity to any changes in market structure. The specificity of the services is the impossibility of their warehousing, storage or transportation. In most cases, the process of production of a service and its consumption coincides in time. These features increase the degree of risk in the service business, since its success depends on the level of demand and a number of other factors that are quite difficult to predict.

• Specifics of service provision. As a rule, various small and medium-sized businesses act as service providers. Due to his small size they have significant mobility, which allows them to quickly respond to any changes in the market. Their activities are also highly effective in the local market.

• Increased requirements for the service provision process. The provision of services is associated with the expansion of communication links, which requires the manufacturer to have certain professional and ethical qualities.

• Significant differentiation of services. This is due to the individualization of demand for certain services. In addition, as the market becomes saturated, new non-standard offers appear, which stimulates innovative activity in the service sector.

• Uncertainty of the result. In most cases, the final result in the service sector cannot be foreseen due to its dependence on the personal qualities of the manufacturer. The final assessment is carried out at the time of consumption of the service. Manufacturers who are determined to prevent possible errors, use various marketing methods. We are talking about expanding the range of services offered, improving communication skills, using modern methods to forecast demand.

• Uneven development various industries in the service sector. The best developed areas are consumer services, catering and tourism. While such areas as healthcare, education and culture have a number of specific features, which determines their limited opportunities their development.

Stay up to date with everyone important events United Traders - subscribe to our

IN Everyday life We often come across the word “market”. Market is a place for buying and selling goods. This is the simplest, but also the most superficial understanding of the market. But in scientific life The market is the relationship between buyers (subjects of demand) and sellers (suppliers) regarding the exchange of the entire mass of goods and services produced. The exchange of goods occurs on the basis of equivalence, i.e. equal value. Developed commodity production involves the use of money as intermediaries in the exchange of goods. Market boundaries in general view cover exchange, acts of purchase and sale of products and services, and represent a complex system that requires labor and appropriate logistics. The market must have the appropriate infrastructure; the process of its functioning and development determines the creation of a competitive market environment and the activation entrepreneurial activity.

So, the basis of the market is commodity production.

The market has its own classification:

Application objects are distinguished: goods market, services market, construction market, technology market, information market, credit market, stock market, market work force etc.;

In spatial terms, they are distinguished: local, regional, national, regional for a group of integrated countries, world markets;

According to the functioning mechanism, they distinguish: free, monopolized, state-regulated and planned-regulated markets.

According to the level of saturation, they are distinguished: equilibrium (in volume and structure), deficit and excess.

In this work, I will consider only two types of markets: the goods market and the services market.

Market of goods and services

In order to define the market for goods and services, it is necessary to understand what goods and services are. Services are expedient activity a person, the result of which has a beneficial effect that satisfies any human needs. A commodity is a specific economic good produced for exchange.

A market for goods and services is an organized structure through which demand for goods from households and government meets supply from business. The market for goods and services is aimed at connecting the sphere of production with the sphere of consumption and at the same time ensuring optimal proportions between supply and demand, focusing production on meeting the needs of consumers.

This market is the central link common system interconnected markets. The results of its functioning influence the functioning of other markets and largely determine the state of other markets and, consequently, the general economic equilibrium. The market for consumer goods occupies a central place in the economy as a life-supporting element of the entire market mechanism. Trade, influencing production through a system of orders, transactions, contracts, moving goods from producer to consumer through trading network, satisfies the needs of both trade and manufacturing enterprises, and the population, since a product is a means of satisfying needs, and a need is driving force in economics and the incentive for economic activity.

The market for consumer goods and services is also divided into different kinds goods:

a) non-durable goods (such as bread, milk, cigarettes, chewing gum, etc.)

b) durable goods (cars, furniture, clothing, houses, etc.)

c) luxury goods

d) social infrastructure, or consumer services (education, healthcare, personal services, etc.).

The commodity market is also called a system of economic relations that arise in the process of exchange of labor products based on the stable interaction of commodity and money circulation. The consumer goods market is a system of economic relations regarding the purchase and sale of goods, when they are understood as a labor product with a use value intended for sale (sale), including services.

The meaning and functions of the market for goods and services:

1. Meeting the needs of households;

2. Income generation by the business sector;

3. Creation of public goods;

4. It consumes the bulk of the gross national product. The defining characteristic of this market is the transfer of products from the ownership of the producer to the ownership of the consumer.

The market for goods and services is divided into:

a) the market for consumer goods and services;

b) market for means of production;

c) market for government orders (consumer and investment). The consumer goods market is a market for consumer goods. It is formed as a result of the following measures:

1) through the development of entrepreneurship in the production and marketing of food and non-food products;

2) by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises;

3) tax and credit incentives for consumer goods;

4) transition to free pricing for most goods;

5) gradual abolition of subsidies for unprofitable enterprises;

6) a radical revision of the preferential redistribution of consumer goods.

The formation of this market is carried out on the basis of the laws of the Republic of Belarus: “On Trade” dated July 8, 2003 No. 231-Z, “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” dated January 9, 2002 No. 90-Z

A complete understanding of the market lies in its abstract and concrete interpretation. The first point of view on this issue assumes that the market is a set of socio-economic relations that develop regarding exchange. In this regard, quite often the market is identified with one of the most widespread forms of socio-economic structure in the world - capitalism. Being a category of exchange and commodity-money relations, the market presupposes the existence of mutual connections between supply and demand. The essence of the phenomena occurring in the market is revealed by these relationships and represents the mechanism or basic principle of the functioning of the market.

The relationship between supply and demand itself is dialectical. Market demand naturally initiates the supply of goods and services. Quantitative parameters of supply are linked to demand using price, which actively regulates it. Adjusted demand again sets supply parameters (see Fig. 1.1). It is important that the principle of freedom of pricing or non-interference of the state in matters of price setting is respected.

The role of the market as a regulator of relations in society and the economy is well known. It is necessary, however, to highlight several specific functions that determine the significance of the market for the entire system of commercial relations:

• the market creates the conditions for assessing the social significance of the labor spent on creating goods. An act of exchange carried out on the market according to the well-known “commodity-money” scheme means that the work of the creator of this product is socially useful. A prerequisite for this is a real opportunity for the buyer to freely choose the product he needs and, accordingly, the source (seller) of this product;
• the market regulates the amount of socially necessary costs for the production of goods. In the process of exchange, a clear idea of ​​the level of socially necessary labor costs for the production of a particular product is formed. At the same time, the market indirectly affects economic indicators enterprises, in particular, on cost and profit: unprofitable firms “leave” the market;
• the market forms the main proportions of the economy, the composition and structure of the social product. The reason is the natural desire of entrepreneurs to produce and sell goods that are in first demand. In other words, capital is concentrated in those industries where the parameters of demand most closely match supply.

Rice. 1.1. Dialectics of the “demand-supply” relationship

The concept of the market is closely related to the concept of the market environment, i.e. with a special field of activity in which the commercial interests of sellers and buyers constantly collide. At the same time, the activities of participants in market relations are characterized by a clear focus and have specificity in connection with the role of this subject On the market. Thus, sellers strive to attract buyers to their product and therefore compete with each other, as a result of which purchasing activity develops in the market. Buyers are trying to rationally spend their funds in such a way as to optimally combine their existing purchasing power with the benefit of the purchase.

The need to realize these interests presupposes the need for a clear understanding of the market in its specific manifestations. In contrast to the above abstract definition, the market can be represented quite concretely. In this case, we are talking about a market for a specific product consisting of homogeneous products or sales market . From this point of view, the market is, firstly, a set of buyers of a certain product, and, secondly, a set of sellers of the same product.

The main characteristics of the sales market are:

• for a set of buyers: market capacity and elasticity of demand for a given product;
• for a set of sellers: total sales volume and specific gravity(share) of individual sellers in the total volume.

Market capacity (the maximum volume of purchases of a certain product in a given sales market over a certain period of time) ultimately depends on two main factors. On the one hand, this is an objectively existing limit on the consumption of a given product, on the other hand, it is the limit on the purchasing or paying ability of consumers of the product, taking into account the elasticity of demand.

The volumetric characteristics of the sales market, defined as a set of sellers, are influenced by external and internal factors. Thus, market capacity directly limits total sales volumes (an external factor regulating the supply of goods), and the distribution of these volumes into specific shares for individual sellers occurs under the strong influence of competition (internal factor). Therefore, the possibility of introducing a new seller into a specific sales market is always very difficult, since in modern conditions of international economic integration there are practically no “undeveloped” areas of the market where there is unsatisfied effective demand.