View Your Customers As Investments.

CUSTOMER lifetime value; CUSTOMER relations; WHOLESALE trade; RETAIL industry; CUSTOMER relationship management; MARKETING; NEW product development; CUSTOMER retention; CUSTOMER loyalty; DISTRIBUTORS (Commerce); MARKET share; CUSTOMER satisfaction

The article illustrates the use of the concept of customer-investment focusing on its application in the area of wholesale and retail trade. A company's investment in customers is valuable in the sense that it is more closely related to the company's existence, growth, and profitability over time. The usefulness of the concept is based on the fact that different kinds of marketing action can increase the net value of a company's customer investment. Customer-investment can be a useful concept for analyzing marketing situations of certain kinds, particularly those where marketers depend on continuing patronage.