The Distinction between Convenience Goods, Shopping Goods, and Specialty Goods

The essence of the distinction between convenience goods and shopping goods may lie in the gain resulting from price and quality comparisons relative to the searching costs. For convenience goods this ratio is low, but for shopping goods the probable gain is large enough to call forth more extensive searching. Specialty goods seem to overlap both of the other categories and are distinguished only by the limited size of the market demand for the goods.