We think of a "customer" as a patron of a particular business establishment, whereas "consumer" is a much more general word, meaning anyone who uses up goods or services. All of my customers are consumers, but not all consumers are my customers.

A customer is one who pays for the goods. A client is one who pays for the services. A consumer is one consumes/uses/eats things ie not a producer. A producer is one who makes/creates/builds things ie not a consumer.

customer means a person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or other business synonyms: buyer,client consumer means a person or thing that eats or uses something synonym:user