Q.Which feature of business services means that a service cannot be stored or stocked for future use? (A) Intangibility
(B) Inseparability
(C) Perishability
(D) Variability

Business services are intangible support activities — banking, insurance, transport, warehousing, communication — that help trade and industry run smoothly. Their key features are intangibility, inseparability, perishability, heterogeneity (variability), simultaneity of production and consumption, and no ownership transfer.

Business services are those services that are needed to conduct business activities. Unlike goods, they are performances or activities, not physical products. Banking, insurance, transportation, warehousing and communication are the main business services that facilitate the smooth flow of trade and commerce.

Features of business services

1. Intangibility

Services cannot be seen, touched, tasted or stored like goods. They can only be experienced or felt. For example, a customer cannot touch a bank's service — only experience its benefit.

2. Inseparability (Simultaneous production and consumption)

A service is produced and consumed at the same time. The service provider and the customer must usually be present together, so a service cannot be separated from its source.

3. Perishability

Services cannot be stored, saved or carried forward for future sale. If a service is not used when available (an empty seat on a bus, an idle hotel room), its value is lost forever.

4. Heterogeneity (Variability)

Services are not uniform; their quality depends on who provides them, and on the time and place of delivery. Because a service cannot be standardised, it may differ from one occasion to another.

(Additional features include no transfer of ownership — the customer gains the benefit of a service but does not own it — and the fact that services are customer-centric and require customer participation.)