The consumer services industry has been steadily growing over the last decade, as it would appear in the DOW Jones US consumer services index. The consumer services industry is very broad and encompasses many different companies in many different sectors within the economy.
Over the last twenty years, the amount of consumers has been rapidly increasing due to growing economies, consumer spending, and buying power. This influx of consumer spending means that they are able to spend more on consumer services, leading to an extremely beneficial trend for companies in the consumer services industry, and is one reason why the consumer service industry could do very well in the future. The consumer service industry could end up being the perfect place to look for a job or start a career.
In order to get a better understanding of what consumer services are, this article will try and explain the definition and also give some examples of companies that are in the consumer services industry to try and give some more context and examples.
Definition of Consumer Services
Consumer services are services that are offered solely to the consumer. Healthcare, finance, and tourism would fall into this category. Consumer services are similar to consumer products in the way that both are made to be utilized by a consumer. The difference between services and products is fairly obvious. Products are tangible, which usually means that they can also be stored for a later date, while a service is something you cannot touch and is consumed the moment the service begins.
For example, a pizza is a consumer product, but the restaurant that cooks the pizza is providing a service. Additionally, the delivery of the pizza to the consumer who bought the pizza is also a service. The main difference between a consumer service and another type of service is that consumer services are made with the sole purpose of being served to a consumer and not a business.
Also note that consumer services and customer services are two very different terms. The definition of customer service is the assistance or advice of a company to consumers of their product or service. While the definition of consumer services are non-products offered to consumers.
Examples of Consumer Services
Since consumer services is such a big industry there are a few key sectors that can be defined within the consumer services that encompass a large amount of the consumer services out there. Shopping and retail, this includes online retail stores and regular brick and mortar stores, that might sell products but while doing so is offering the service of providing goods to consumers.
Food, entertainment and tourism is also a major sector and it can include anything which has to do with experiences rather than things. Think about for example going to the movies, eating in a restaurant or going on a cruise. The delivery sector is also very much related to consumer services and ties in very well with other sectors like retail and food.
On the other side of the spectrum the financial, healthcare and insurance sector is also partly a consumer service, depending on the specific type of company. Think for example about car insurance, personal banking or personal loan services.
What can be seen is that a very broad range of companies can be considered consumer service. That is why it might be hard to define consumer services, it can basically mean anything that has to do with consumers and is classified as a service.
Consumer Services Companies
Below are some examples of some of the biggest companies in the consumer services industry, to give more context on what exactly are consumer service companies. These companies are in the consumer services field:
MCDONALD’S CORPORATION – 194,91B market cap
Mcdonalds is a good example of a restaurant type service that focuses on consumers, it is one of the biggest in the food and restaurant sector, having fast food restaurants all over the world.
WALT DISNEY COMPANY – 164,27B market cap
Disney is a conglomerate that encompasses a lot of different products and services. When thinking about consumer services, Disney has theme parks, online streaming services and is mainly in the entertainment and media sector. This is a good example of entertainment consumer services.
COMCAST CORPORATION – 149,11B market cap
Comcast is a telecommunications giant and offers several services to consumers, like communication services and television services as well as other services like online streaming. Most people use phones and watch some kind of television or streaming service which is all also part of consumer services.
WALMART – 384,97B market cap
Walmart owns a wide range of retail stores, grocery stores and sells a large amount of different items to consumers all over the world as well as online shopping services, and is a great example of retail shopping.
AMAZON – 896,32B market cap
Amazon is one of the biggest online marketplace platforms for online shopping, as well as a logistics company shipping items and delivery services. Amazon is an interesting case because Amazon is a services company that provides a platform for consumers to purchase products but at the same time, Amazon also provides a platform for retailers and other sellers to actually sell their products. That part of the businesses is clearly services that are related to other businesses and not towards consumers.
EXPEDIA – 13,76B market cap
Expedia is an online travel platform for consumers to find a place to stay and other travel related services for their trip. This is an example of a travel, leisure and tourism service. Platforms like this also offer services to non consumers like Amazon which are not considered consumer services but those corporate clients in turn will offer consumer services to the travelers in the form of accommodation or activities.
BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT – 14,94B market cap
A Canadian company that is one of the world’s largest alternative investment management companies in 2022. Financial services is also an example, as long as the financial services are offered towards consumers and not businesses it could also be considered a consumer service. Also since there are no physical products present but a service is provided.