1.2 Taxonomy
Here is a concise summary of a four-category Product-Unit taxonomy, and why it is consistent with and conducive to contemporary digital / blockchain-era commerce.
Product-Unit Taxonomy: Four Commercial Categories¶
A modern framework aligned with global digital commerce and asset-based services.
Your Product-Unit universe can be fully expressed using four commercial categories. Every Product-Unit belongs to one or more of these categories. Every offering—physical, digital, service, entitlement, subscription, deposit, bundle—is a composition of Product-Units that each sit in one or more of these categories.
1. Physical Product-Unit — The Tangible Asset Layer¶
Definition¶
A real, manufactured object that must be stocked, delivered, serviced, and tracked.
Examples¶
Batteries, chargers, vehicles, hardware modules, mounting kits.
Why It Matters¶
Physical goods are increasingly accompanied by digital identity and service layers (digital twins, telemetry, remote activation). This matches global EV and IoT practices where the physical product is only one part of the customer value.
2. Digital Product-Unit — The Access & Data Layer¶
Definition¶
Non-physical deliverables that provide access, rights, telemetry, firmware, analytics, or digital capabilities.
Examples¶
App onboarding, CARM dashboards, firmware upgrades, data packages.
Why It Matters¶
Digital products now shape the customer experience, enhance asset value, and enable service differentiation. This aligns with the global trend toward:
- software-defined hardware
- digital feature unlocks
- cloud-linked vehicle / asset identity systems
- tokenized access in decentralized ecosystems
Digital products make mobility and energy systems programmable.
3. Service Product-Unit — The Operational Value Layer¶
Definition¶
An action, process, or ongoing operational effort delivered by OVES: one-time or recurring.
Examples¶
Swap services, maintenance, installation, delivery, diagnostics, extended warranty.
Why It Matters¶
The world has shifted toward service-based commerce (“X-as-a-Service”): Mobility, energy, software, and infrastructure are increasingly delivered as continuous value, not one-time purchases.
Your swap model fits perfectly into this global paradigm:
- recurring relationships
- predictable revenue
- measurable usage
- differentiable tiers
4. Contract Product-Unit — The Entitlement & Obligation Layer¶
(The most modern and strategically powerful category.)
Definition¶
A Product-Unit whose sale creates a commercial state, defining rights, obligations, privileges, or conditional future deliverables.
Contract Product-Units typically:
Deposit Product-Units, swap eligibility Product-Units, rental rights Product-Units, access tier Product-Units, fleet operator rights Product-Units.
Why It Matters¶
In modern commerce, the contract can be treated as a Product-Unit in its own right.
This category parallels:
- tokenized ownership (without blockchain hype)
- programmable entitlements
- financialized access rights
- asset-backed service agreements
- membership or privilege ecosystems
Contract Product-Units enable:
- refundable deposits
- conditional access
- tiered entitlements
- obligations tied to future behavior
This category prepares OVES for the post-ownership economy, where rights and obligations matter more than the asset itself.
Core Insight¶
Physical, Digital, Service, and Contract are classification categories for Product-Units.
Every Product-Unit OVES defines is assigned to one or more of these four categories. Every commercial offering is a composition of Product-Units, each with:
- A clear metric (piece, time, count, etc.) as defined in
1-concepts.md - A category (or categories) from this taxonomy
Bundles are defined in ABS as compositions of Product-Units (using these categories). Odoo records only the Product-Units as line items; it does not mirror bundles.
Mapping Traditional Product Concepts → Product-Unit Categories¶
| Traditional Concept | Old Interpretation | Modern Interpretation (Your Framework) |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Goods | Hardware item | Physical Product |
| Software License | File or code | Digital Product (access right, feature flag) |
| Warranty / Installation | Add-on services | Service Product |
| Deposit | Financial placeholder | Contract Product (obligation + entitlement) |
| Subscription | Recurring billing | Service Product + Contract Product (rules) |
| Entitlement | “Privilege” | Contract Product controlling service access |
| Bundle | SKU combination | Composition of the 4 types (ABS logic) |
| Membership | Customer tier | Contract Product + optional Digital Product |
| Swap Program | Service plan | Service Product + Contract Product |
Mapping to Emerging Global Trends¶
| Emerging Trend | Your Category Fit | Why It Aligns |
|---|---|---|
| Software-defined hardware | Physical + Digital | Hardware identity + feature unlocks |
| Subscription mobility | Service + Contract | Recurring value + entitlement rights |
| Tokenized entitlements | Contract + Digital | Programmable rights, future-proof |
| Usage-based billing | Service | Swap, charging, IoT events |
| Deposit-backed services | Contract | Financialized access rights |
| Dynamic bundling | Compositions via ABS | No SKU explosion, rule-driven |
| IoT asset ecosystems | Physical + Digital + Contract | Identity → entitlement → service model |
This places OVES at the front edge of global commerce evolution.
Summary¶
OVES defines all products as compositions of Product-Units. Each Product-Unit:
- Has a clear metric and five-dimensional definition (see
1-concepts.md) - Is classified into one or more of four commercial categories: Physical, Digital, Service, Contract
These two layers—Product-Unit structure and Product-Unit taxonomy—together align OVES with modern digital commerce and asset-based mobility.