Meaning & use
unique selling point
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Meaning
nouncountablebusiness
A feature of a product or service that no competitor offers, used to convince people to choose it.
Grammar: Countable: a unique selling point, several unique selling points.
Patterns
- the unique selling point of something
- something's unique selling point
Our unique selling point is free repairs for ten years.
The bakery's unique selling point is that everything is made without wheat.
Without a clear unique selling point, the new phone struggled to attract buyers.
Word forms
| plural | unique selling points |
|---|
Common combinations
- identify a unique selling point
- We must identify a unique selling point before launch.
- main unique selling point
- The main unique selling point is the battery life.
- have a unique selling point
- A good brand has a unique selling point.
- build around a unique selling point
- They built the campaign around a unique selling point: local ingredients.
Synonyms and how they differ
- USP
- USP is the standard abbreviation and is the form people most often use in meetings.
- selling point
- A selling point is any attractive feature, while a unique selling point must be one rivals lack.
- competitive advantage
- Competitive advantage is a broader business term covering costs, skills and strategy, not just a feature of one product.
- differentiator
- Differentiator is a modern business-speak word that can mean any distinguishing factor.
Word family
- unique adjective
- one of a kind
- uniqueness noun
- the quality of being one of a kind
- selling noun
- the activity of selling
- sell verb
- to exchange for money
Commonly confused: unique selling point or unique selling proposition?
unique selling point vs unique selling proposition
This is the original marketing term for the same idea, and the two phrases are often used interchangeably.
Practice
A cafe is the only one in town roasting its beans on site. This is its ____.
Choose one answer.
A unique selling point is a feature competitors lack. The target market is the group of customers, not the feature.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unique selling point”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.