Customer vs client

[Carizma]

Could you advise please what’s the difference in meaning between ‘customer’ and ‘client’?

 

[emsr2d2]

Could you [STRIKE]advise[/STRIKE] tell me [STRIKE]please what's[/STRIKE] the difference in meaning between ‘customer’ and ‘client’?

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Please note my changes above. What differences have you found when looking up those two words in a selection of good dictionaries? In what context do you want to use the relevant word? Please provide us with a complete sentence to consider.

 

[Jemima23]

Not a teacher.

Here's what I found: "Customer means a person who buys goods and services from the company. While the client refers to a person who looks for professional service from the business."

 

[Tarheel]

That looks about right to me.

So if I go to a restaurant I'm a customer, but if I go to a barber shop I'm a client. (Perhaps either is possible in that case.)

 

[stanislaw.masny]

Not a teacher.

In my opinion, these are close synonyms. Contexts may require the use of one word or the other. Let's wait for the opinions of native speakers.

 

[Rover_KE]

Click here to find earlier threads on this exact topic.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

Click here to find earlier threads on this exact topic.

This leads to 'Sorry - no matches. Try some different terms'.

 

[Tarheel]

People keep stopping me in the street to ask me this very same question.

They stop me all the time with the same question. ;-)

Click here to find earlier threads on this exact topic.

That link didn't work. :-(

Hm.

 

[jutfrank]

I usually teach it that customers buy goods and clients buy services.

However, 'customer' is often used for a buyer of services too, though 'client' isn't used for a buyer of goods.

 

[probus]

The last time I answered this question, I gave the straightforward answer that Jutfrank usually teaches. But on reflection I think that services to clients tend to be personal or professional. I worked for some time in a large trucking company and trucking is clearly a service. But we always called the firms whose goods we carried customers.

 

[Rover_KE]

Click here to find earlier threads on this exact topic.

This leads to 'Sorry - no matches. Try some different terms'.

Try these:

Customer, client?
Client or customer?
client vs. customer