顧客（こきゃく、kokyaku）
- customer

The Japanese word 顧客, read こきゃく (kokyaku), means "customer," "client," or "patron." It refers to an individual or entity that purchases goods or services from a business or organization. It emphasizes the ongoing relationship between the business and the person. The term often implies a certain level of familiarity or established business relationship.

⚫︎新しい顧客 Translation: New customer ⚫︎顧客満足度調査 Translation: Customer satisfaction survey ⚫︎顧客サービス Translation: Customer service

⚫︎You would use 顧客 when you're talking about the people who buy from a business. ⚫︎It's common in business contexts, marketing, and discussions about sales. ⚫︎It can refer to both individual consumers and businesses that are purchasing from another business. ⚫︎It's a polite and professional term.

⚫︎The standard way to write 顧客 is with the kanji 顧客. ⚫︎The reading is こきゃく (kokyaku) in hiragana. ⚫︎There are no variations in okurigana. ⚫︎It's almost never written in katakana.

⚫︎お客様 (okyaku-sama): This is a more general and polite term for "customer" or "guest." ⚫︎クライアント (kuraianto): This is a loanword from English "client," often used in a professional or business-to-business setting. ⚫︎ユーザー (yuuzaa): This is the English loanword "user", more often used in context of product users (like apps). ⚫︎常連 (jōren): A regular customer. ⚫︎取引先 (torihikisaki): Business partner or client.

⚫︎While there isn't a direct antonym, words that imply a lack of customer relationship or a one-time transaction could be considered contrasting. ⚫︎販売者 (hanbaisha): seller, vendor. ⚫︎供給者 (kyoukyuusha): supplier.

この店は顧客のニーズをよく理解している。 ・Translation: This shop understands its customers' needs well. ・Explanation: This sentence illustrates how 顧客 is used to discuss a business's understanding of its buyers.'

新しい顧客を獲得するために、効果的なマーケティング戦略を立てる必要がある。 ・Translation: We need to create an effective marketing strategy to acquire new customers. ・Explanation: This sentence demonstrates 顧客 in the context of business development and acquiring new clients.

The word 顧客 is a compound word formed from two kanji: 顧 (ko) which means "to look back," "to turn around," or "to consider," and 客 (kyaku) which means "guest" or "customer." Together, the word implies someone who is regarded and attended to by a business.