Business services are a subset of economic services that businesses offer to their customers. These services provide expertise, convenience and luxury to consumers, while also boosting employee satisfaction and motivation.
They can help companies meet regulations and keep operations running smoothly. They also free up business units to focus on other activities.
The business services industry is the third tier of economic theory, after primary and secondary sectors that produce tangible goods for consumer use. It uses information technology and data to understand and meet consumer needs.
Some common types of business services include IT audits, employee self-service portals, marketing and production services, and more. These services help organizations focus on their business goals, allowing them to maximize profitability.
Unlike tangible goods, business services are intangible and do not have a physical presence, which makes them difficult to demonstrate and measure. They are not stocked like products and must be produced differently each time to satisfy a customer’s needs.
Intangibility
One of the most important characteristics of goods and services is inhomogeneity, which means that the same qualities do not exist in all instances. For example, employees in a bank may be kind to one customer, but rude to another. Similarly, non-stocking business services are perishable, which means they cannot be stored or traded in advance.