When is 顧客{こきゃく} used for “customer”?

Question

In daily life, I usually hear the words お客様{きゃくさま}, お客{きゃく}さん, and maybe other variants that use 客{きゃく}/客{かく} to refer to customers at a shop.

However, in the dictionary, the first word that comes up for customer is 顧客{こきゃく}.

I feel like I've never heard that word, though it wouldn't be the first time I realize a word I was unfamiliar with had actually been all around me all along.

When is 顧客{こきゃく} used, and how does it differ from the other variants of 客{きゃく}?

Answer 1

[顧客]{こきゃく}:

• 客/おとくいの客/customer/custom/client/patron/patronage

お[客様]{きゃくさま}/お客/客:

• たずねてくる人([訪問客]{ほうもんきゃく}/[来客]{らいきゃく})
• [招]{まね}かれてくる人([招待客]{しょうたいきゃく})
• [旅館]{りょかん}に[泊]{と}まる人/caller/visitor/ company/guest
• [物]{もの}を[買]{か}う人/customer
• 物を[見]{み}に[来]{く}る人([観客]{かんきゃく})/audience/spectator
• [船]{ふね}や[車]{くるま}に[乗]{の}る人([乗客]{じょうきゃく})/passenger

Shop owners/sales clerks usually address their customers as 'お客様', and sometimes as 'お客さん', which sounds less polite and formal. When they just talk about customers, they might say 'お客さん/お客'.

'顧客' is more formal (but not 'polite', so they never address their customers as '顧客様' or '顧客さん'.), and I think it is more likely to be used in a meeting or written in a document, and in the news/newspapers too.