tilaajat

Tilaajat is a Finnish noun meaning the people or organizations that place orders for goods or services, or subscribe to a service. The term is used in several contexts and may refer to a customer in commercial exchanges, a subscriber to a publication or service, or, in public procurement and organizational administration, the contracting party that issues a request for bids and defines requirements.

The word derives from the verb tilata, “to order,” and tilaus, “an order.” The agent of ordering is tilaaja, and the plural form tilaajat denotes multiple ordering parties. In everyday language the nuance is often close to “customer” or “subscriber,” but in formal procurement language tilaaja has a precise scope as the entity responsible for procurement activities and contract formation.

Usage examples: A publication’s tilaajat are its subscribers. In a procurement process, the tilaaja publishes a request for proposals and evaluates bids from prospective toimittajat (suppliers). The plural tilaajat may refer to several contracting authorities or customer organizations.

Related terms include asiakas (customer), ostaja (buyer), and tilaus (order) along with toimittaja (supplier) and other context-specific terms.