AQA GCSE Business key terms

The change in a value expressed as a percentage of its original value.

A document setting out the essential and desirable qualifications, skills, experience and personal qualities required of a job applicant.

The distribution channels through which a good or service reaches customers and where it is available to buy.

An arrangement of products and promotional material where customers make purchases, designed to attract attention and encourage buying.

Support provided after a customer has bought a product, such as user training, help lines, servicing or repairs.

A selling price above that of comparable alternatives, which customers may accept because they value the product’s quality or other distinctive features.

An organisation that seeks to influence businesses or government to support a particular cause.

The amount customers are charged for a good or service.

Setting a low initial price to attract customers and build market share, with the intention of raising it once the product is established.

Setting a high initial price for a new product, then lowering it over time.

An approach a business uses to decide the price it charges for a product or service.

Collecting new, first-hand information specifically for the business’s research needs; also called field research.

The part of the economy concerned with extracting or harvesting natural resources, such as farming, fishing and mining.

A business owned by shareholders, with limited liability, whose shares cannot be offered for sale to the general public.

The process of sourcing and buying the raw materials, goods and services a business needs.

The features, design, quality, branding and packaging of the good or service offered to customers.

Deciding a product’s features, function and appearance, including how it can be produced at an appropriate cost.

Developing and promoting features or benefits that set a product apart from competing products.

The way customers perceive a product, including the qualities and values they associate with it.

The transformation of resources, such as materials, labour and equipment, into finished goods or services.

A measure of output produced relative to the inputs used, such as output per worker.

An understanding of a product’s features, uses and suitability that enables staff to give accurate advice and answer customers’ questions.

The stages a product’s sales typically pass through over time, including introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

The range of products or services offered by a business.

An action to retrieve goods already supplied to customers because a fault or safety problem has been discovered, usually so they can be repaired, replaced or refunded.

A good sent back to a business by a customer, for example because it is faulty or does not meet expectations.

The amount by which revenue exceeds total costs over a period. If total costs exceed revenue, the business makes a loss.