order

1. General: Confirmed request by one party to another to buy, sell, deliver, or receive goods or services under specified terms and conditions. When accepted by the receiving party, an order becomes a legally binding contract. See also purchase order.

2. Banking: Three-party instrument (such as a check or draft) through which its maker or issuer (drawer) authorizes a bank or other financial institution to pay the stated sum to its named holder (either a drawee or a payee). Such instruments are transferable by endorsement, and thus are negotiable instruments.

3. Law: Authoritative mandate, command, or direction issued by a court under its seal. A final court order is called judgment.

4. Securities and commodities trading: Investor's instructions to a broker or dealer to buy or sell the item in a specified manner. Such orders are of four major types: (1) Limit order, (2) Market order, (3) Open order, and (4) Stop order.

When conducting market research, it's misleading to describe a product or service and ask people if they'd buy it if it existed. Companies have found that surveys like this are highly inaccurate. A somewhat better approach is to look at what your target audience already buys and use that to guesstimate whether they would buy the product or service you're considering making. But even better, you can do an actual test of user behavior by spending a small amount on online advertising, driving people to a landing page with your sales pitch and seeing if they try to place orders, even before you have started manufacturing the product. You'll be gathering data on real customer behavior and you'll also be building a list of people who will probably still want to buy your product or service if and when you do decide to make it.

• Know What Characteristics Matter
• The Price of Competition
• Rule of Free Enterprise