A service is the diametrically opposed non-material counterpiece of a physical good. A service provision comprises a sequence of activities that does not result in ownership of the outcome, and this is what fundamentally differentiates it from furnishing someone with physical goods.

Service provision is a process that creates predetermined benefits by effectuating either a change of service consumers, a change in their physical possessions or a change in their (in)tangible assets.

By composing and orchestrating the appropriate level of resources, skill, ingenuity,and experience for effecting specific benefits for service consumers, service providers participate in an economy without the restrictions of carrying stock (inventory) or the need to concern themselves with bulky raw materials.

On the other hand, their investment in expertise does require consistent service marketing and upgrading in the face of competition which has equally few physical restrictions.

The dichotomy between physical goods and intangible services should not be given too much credence. These are not discrete categories.

Most business theorists see a continuum with pure service on one terminal point and pure commodity good on the other terminal point. Most products fall between these two extremes.

For example, a restaurant provides a physical good (the food), but also provides services in the form of ambience, the setting and clearing of the table, etc. And although some utilities actually deliver physical goods — like water utilities which actually deliver water — utilities are usually treated as services.

In a narrower sense, service refers to quality of customer service: the measured appropriateness of assistance and support provided to a customer. This particular usage occurs frequently in retailing.