What is Industry?
The term industry applies to several manufacturers producing a specific product. The industry is characterized by the singularity of products and services. Different companies compete with each other in the industry and strive to create premier products. For example, in the film industry, different directors and producers are in competition with each other to make films. Each industry is centered around only one type of product and service.
The industry is more a sphere or space of producers. Manufacturers in an industry are motivated by innovation and competition. In industry, product ideas are formed and turned into reality after undergoing several stages of design, testing, and quality assurance. Suppose different shoe manufacturers are lined up to make shoes in the shoe industry. Each of them tries to create the best possible design with the least expenditures, to yield maximum profits.
In industry, manufacturers are dealing in one similar type of product and services. At times, these industries may overlap. For example, the cigarette-making industry and the lighter-making industry may intersect with each other at some points. However, they do not become identical. Only those manufacturers that create a single product are identical and make an industry. In industry, monopoly is the dominance of one manufacturer over others, resulting in loosening competition.
What is Market?
In business studies, the market refers to the place or space where products and services are sold by buyers to sellers. It’s in the market that the interaction between potential sellers and actual buyers takes place. After reaching a mutual agreement, commodities and services are sold and bought. A market is not necessarily unidirectional: a market can allow people to both buy and sell simultaneously. In the market, things to be sold are supplied by industries.
The operations in a market are the key indicators for manufacturers to devise and revise their policies and plan. For example, it is determined by the market how much demand a product has. In light of buyer response recorded at the market, the industrialist can catalyze or slow down the production of a specific product. Every market has some peculiar transaction methods to facilitate the stream of money from buyers to sellers and vice versa.
The market is not necessarily physical. With the ongoing wave of e-Commerce, sellers are shifting from the conventional physical market to online markets like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba. Because of their convenience, better marketing, and larger sums of profits, these online marketplaces and brands’ websites are a more advanced form of marketing. Although these are present online, the product inventory must be at some physical place.
Difference Between Industry and Market
- The industry is a business category of manufacturers of similar products, whereas the market is a term used to mean a place where products and services are sold.
- The industry is driven by innovation and competition, whereas the market is driven by marketing strategies.
- The industry is where the idea, design, and manufacturing are done, whereas the market determines supply and customer feedback.
- The industry is centered around similar products and services by multiple makers, whereas the market encompasses various products and services.
- The industry mostly exists physically if it is a product-making industry, whereas the market can be physical and online.
Comparison Table Between Industry and Market
| Parameters of Comparison | Industry | Market |
| Meaning | Sphere of Manufacturers of Similar Products and Services | Place Where Different Products and Services are Sold |
| Function | Idea, Design, Manufacturing, Supply | Selling, Pricing, Marketing, Demand |
| Driving Force | Innovation and Competition | Marketing and Promotion |
| Scope | Similar Products and Services | Diverse Products and Services |
| Nature | Mostly Physical | Physical and Online |