customer

customer

cus‧tom‧er S1 W1 /ˈkʌstəmə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[Word Family: adjective: ↑customary, ↑custom, ↑customizable, ↑accustomed; noun: ↑custom, ↑customer, customs; verb: ↑accustom, ↑customize; adverb: ↑customarily]
[Date: 1400-1500; Origin: custom; from the custom of doing business in a particular place]
1. someone who buys goods or services from a shop, company etc:
We aim to offer good value and service to all our customers.
We’ve had several letters from satisfied customers.
customer service/care
Many of the banks offer a poor level of customer service.
He’s one of our regular customers.
best/biggest/largest customer (=the person or company who uses a shop or company the most)
2. awkward/tricky/tough etc customer someone who is difficult to deal with because they behave in a deliberately unhelpful way ⇨ cool customer at ↑cool¹(3)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + customer
▪ a regular customer My business quickly built up a base of regular customers.
▪ a good customer (=who buys a lot from you, or uses your service a lot) Good products attract good customers.
▪ a major/big/large customer (=who is important and buys a lot) America is a big customer for Japanese goods.
▪ a loyal customer (=who has been a customer for a long time) Some of our loyal customers have been coming here since the store opened.
▪ a satisfied customer (=who is pleased with your goods or service) Satisfied customers will retun again and again.
▪ a potential/prospective customer (=who might become a customer in the future) It’s very important to establish contact with potential customers.
▪ a business customer (=customers that are businesses) the bank’s major business customers
▪ existing customers (=that you already have) We want to improve our service for both new and existing customers.
■ verbs
▪ deal with a customer (=do business with or talk to a customer) He has a lot of experience in dealing with customers.
▪ serve a customer Every day the shop serves around 800 customers.
▪ attract customers (=get more customers) The Internet is a great way to attract new customers.
▪ keep/retain customers Keeping prices low helps to retain customers.
▪ lose a customer The company has lost some big customers in the last two years.
■ customer + NOUN
▪ customer service/care (=serving and looking after customers) Our aim is always to raise the level of customer service.
▪ customer relations Staff are given training in customer relations.
▪ customer satisfaction (=how pleased customers are) The firm carried out a survey of customer satisfaction.
▪ customer demand (=the amount of something customers want to buy or use) It’s important to respond quickly to changing customer demand.
▪ customer complaints My job is to handle customer complaints and enquiries.
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THESAURUS
▪ customer someone who buys goods or services from a shop or company: Customers were waiting for the shop to open. | The bank is one of our biggest customers.
▪ client someone who pays for a service from a professional person or company: He has a meeting with one of his clients. | The company buys and sells shares on behalf of their clients
▪ shopper someone who goes to the shops looking for things to buy: The streets were full of Christmas shoppers.
▪ guest someone who pays to stay in a hotel: Guests must leave their rooms by 10 am.
▪ patron /ˈpeɪtrən/ formal a customer of a particular shop, restaurant or hotel – usually written on signs: The notice said ‘Parking for Patrons Only’.
▪ patient someone who is getting medical treatment from a doctor, or in a hospital: He is a patient of Dr Williams.
▪ consumer anyone who buys goods or uses services – used when considering these people as a group who have particular rights, needs, or behaviour: Consumers are demanding more environmentally-friendly products. | the rights of the consumer | The law is designed to protect consumers who buy goods on the Internet.
▪ market the number of people who want to buy a product, or the type of people who want to buy it: The market for organic food is growing all the time. | a magazine aimed at the youth market
▪ clientele /ˌkliːənˈtel $ ˌklaɪənˈtel, ˌkliː-/ formal the type of customers that a particular shop, restaurant etc gets: The hotel has a very upmarket clientele. | They have a wealthy international clientele.