Business services are a broad industry that provides a variety of non-financial services to businesses. They include marketing, advertising, consultation, logistics (including travel and facilities services), waste handling, staffing services, shipping, administration and security.
Unlike goods, which can be stored for future use, services must be delivered when they are required. This makes them intangible, meaning that their value cannot be measured with an inventory.
Service marketing is the act of selling an intangible product to a consumer using various advertising techniques. It is similar to business-to-consumer marketing, but instead of focusing on profit, it focuses on building trust in the quality of the brand.
Business Services
Business services are an important part of the European economy. They provide a range of services that are essential to manufacturing, other sectors and the economy as a whole.
These services are crucial to European competitiveness and enable new combinations of goods and services.
They are a significant contributor to EU GDP and the service-providing industries supersector group, contributing 11% of total economic output in 2012.
Business services employ about 420,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with annual sales of about $950 billion. They operate in a wide range of countries worldwide, and they often work with small or medium-sized businesses that may be located locally, across a region, or globally.