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 ↑ cool 1 (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.
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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.
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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.
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the rights of the consumer
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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.
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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.
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They have a wealthy international clientele.