Services - What are they? characteristics, types, examples, and more

Services

Act or activity that is offered to satisfy a need.

What are services?

A service is any act or activity that is offered to satisfy a need. These are essentially intangible, do not result in any property, and their production may or may not be tied to a physical product.

The term services, or service sector, is frequently used to refer to a series of highly heterogeneous economic activities. In this sense, it should be noted then that the component of service can be offered in different ways:

• A tangible good accompanied by services: in this case, the offer lies in a tangible good accompanied by one or more services that make it more interesting for the consumer. An example of this case is the vehicle assemblers that sell their cars with a guarantee and with service and maintenance instructions.
• The main service associated with minor goods and services: in this case the offer is based on the main service, together with some supporting services and/or goods. For example, the passengers of an airline who are acquiring the transport service, during the course of the trip, also receive some tangible products such as food and drinks, or the service of enjoying the projection of a movie.
• A pure service: in this case, the offer essentially consists of providing a service. An example of this would be the legal services provided by a lawyer, based on a consultation for a legal matter.

Characteristics of the services

Among the most important characteristics of the services we can highlight that:

• Unlike physical goods, services cannot be seen, tried, or felt before use.
• They are produced and consumed at the same time.
• They cannot be preserved, stored, or returned.
• They are always different from each other because they depend on who lends them and how or where they are offered.
• The satisfaction of the services, when produced and consumed instantly, will depend on the way in which they are used.
• By providing a comprehensive service to a client, it adds value to the recipient.

Types of services

The term of services applies to a wide variety of activities, among which are:

• Service industry: all those organizations whose final product is an intangible or ephemeral good. For example consulting companies, software companies, among others.
• Service Products – These need not necessarily be produced by service industries; Industrial companies frequently produce services in the process of their manufacturing operations and sell them to consumers in isolation, or together with goods. For example, vehicle maintenance services.
• Service Occupations – Workers employed in service occupations are present across a range of industries. These are in charge of a wide spectrum of tasks that can range from data processing, accounting work, repairs and maintenance, cleaning services, surveillance, etc.
• Qualified personal services: increasing productivity in contemporary society, a greater number of qualified professional services are needed, such as those of engineers, lawyers, computer scientists, consultants, and financial advisors, just to name the most required by business organizations.
• Unskilled personal services: Historically, unskilled domestic and personal tasks of a very diverse nature have been important sources of service activity in the productive circuit of the countries. This kind of job allows the absorption of surplus labor in the economy.

Examples of services

Various examples of services of a different nature are proposed below.

• Hotel chain: room services, laundry, vehicle parking, nursery, gym, restaurant service, Wi-Fi connection.
• Restaurants: table reservations, waiters, a la carte menu, valet parking, takeaway, home delivery.
• Vehicle dealers: sales advice, financing services, after-sales guarantee, stock of spare parts, maintenance and repair services, online service.
• Qualified professional services: lawyers, public accountants, economists, engineers, doctors, dentists.
• General services for companies: cleaning and maintenance of facilities, surveillance, dining room services, personnel transportation.
• Computer services: maintenance of equipment, networks, and servers, installation, technical assistance and software updating, data security, internet support, cloud services.
• Logistics operators: reception and storage of products, transportation, and distribution of merchandise, management of imports and exports, plant security systems.
• Banking services: opening accounts, receiving deposits, carrying out financial transactions, granting loans, advising clients, digital service support.

 

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