In this model, the company is offering a service to customers through their web site. This could include services of graphic designers, marketing companies, home furnishing services like carpeting or even financial transactions like the buying and selling of stocks. There is sometimes crossover with the Advertising model if a website is offering a tool as a free service and profiting from web advertising revenues but for the sake of this information.

eCommerce Service companies can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. For example local businesses in your area could fit into this model as they use their online presence to draw local web traffic, book appointments or even to complete transactions.

These sites can be very text heavy, to achieve the listings in the Search Engines they need, or they may be interactive, offering a tool to plan the layout and décor of your home. They can be large or small, like your local service business web presence which is mainly there to draw traffic to their physical service location.

http://www.freecreditreport.com/: 

FreeCreditReport.com is an excellent example of a service provider web site. They gather the credit scores from all three agencies and put them in one place, create a usable analysis of that information and provide other tools and services to protect or improve your credit.

The site even goes one better and simultaneously offers space to financial and loan company advertisers so they make money from subscribers and advertisers. This service provider actually offers the service online and you can access the information immediately upon payment.

The lines here get a bit blurry, because in reality, their reports are a product that they sell, but because they are not necessarily shipping you any goods, we are identifying them as an eCommerce service provider.

http://www.seo.com/

This is a great example of a straight up service provider website. They offer SEO services to companies all over the web. The site is simple and content rich, explaining their offering resources and finally, their call to action is to Request a Proposal.

They use their website to draw traffic into the business, which is physically located in one location but can service companies nation and even potentially worldwide.

The site is rich in text and information offering useful resources, but it is not cluttered or weighed down with anything other than the simple call to action. Their services and transactions are conducted offline.

http://www.edmunds.com/

Edmunds.com is a fantastic informational resource and service provider for car owners and buyers. They offer the ability to find new and used cars in your area and they offer end user reviews and information about makes, models and safety.

They have an interesting combination of information and advertising as well as services for finding the vehicle, finding insurance and finding a car loan. Edmunds.com also has a booming virtual community full of enthusiasts that chat over makes, models and features.

Edmunds is a fabulous hybrid example because they truly use every revenue stream available but all in the name of creating a positive user experience.

GoDaddy.com is a hosting service provider - their product is URL and hosting for websites. Their website is not purely informational in relation to their service because you can also complete transactions and manage your domains and even your website through their portal.

This is another good example, like FreeCreditReport.com of a service provider who has to have all of the functionality of an e-tailer eCommerce business model but who is truly providing a service rather than a physical item.

Like FreeCreditReport.com, Edmunds offers valuable consumer information as a service provider, but they have intelligently incorporated not only advertising but partnerships with related service providers of car loans and insurance - not to mention the car dealerships that send Edmunds information about what cars they have on hand.

Supply Chain Management - Tasks necessary to obtain, move, transport, process, and deliver goods from vendors, through manufacturing to the final customer.

Supply chain management in the service website can be very much like that in the advertising model. If the service is information, the supply must be on tap at all times. This means that any technical feeds, news feeds, RSS Feeds, content production or other information resources must be maintained at all times so that the reader or customer can get up to the minute information. Edmunds.com is the best example of this. They need constant updates from car dealerships as to which vehicles are available and as they have honed their own search functionality they have added to and customized the information they need from the dealers. Likewise they have relationships with insurance companies from whom they need specific information and they have car loan companies that need to supply information as well.

Edmunds.com also needs to make sure the subjective or review content they provide is up to par. In this case, all of these various sources of information are the "supply" that must be maintained.

From a technical standpoint, you'll need to ensure/consider that you have:

• A standard feed technology into which dealers and providers and submit information that will be accurate and will meet users needs.
• Content Management Solution to manage user reviews and content provided by the website.
• Advertiser tracking software
• Accounting program to manage financial partnerships
• Consumer feedback tool

If the service is the product, like GoDaddy.com, the supply is actually more complicated. GoDaddy.com has to manage the domains that its customers have purchased. They have to maintain not only the website, but the portal that allows customers to manage their domains and the servers necessary to support other websites. They have to maintain a large customer service organization and information relating on site usage for beginners and advanced users. They also have to maintain the search functionality to help users determine the availability of a particular domain and they need to accept user and customer feedback and constantly improve the site's functionality. As GoDaddy has grown, they have also added services relating to their domain purchasing clientele including marketing tools, eCommerce and merchant based tools, domain auctions and more. In this case, GoDaddy.com must maintain the supply chain on all of these services, whether it be the information relating to the availability of domain names or the services themselves, email availability, the speed of the site overall to handle the traffic of all of their users and website managers, the human element to ensure quick turnaround of service based customers and they are constantly striving to add more.

From a technical standpoint, you'll need to ensure/consider that you have:

• Robust Database technology
• Robust hardware investment
• Integrated customer service management, accounting, marketing and end user account management functionality
• Fast and efficient web technology that is scalable to meet the needs
• Lead and feedback submission tools to physical staff
• Email marketing functions tied into the database for automated update and notifications
• Shopping cart functionality and credit card processing
• Robust site security
• Advertiser/Reseller Management Program

Product and Process Design Management - Tasks required in the design and development of products and processes used in both manufacturing and service applications.

Developing the product and process related behind these Service related sites can be simple and can be incredibly complex. In a site like Edmunds.com they have designed the site in simple sections. You can look for new cars, certified cars, used cars and then you can access information like Car Reviews, Tips and Advice and then you can access service providers in Insurance and Finance and you can access the user community or forum.

The basic user process could be: select make/models to research and compare > assess costs > assess consumer satisfaction and reviews > review financing options and insurance costs > make informed decision > share information with other consumers.

To that end, they have their "product" offerings designed to help people along in that process while exposing them to partners, advertisers and building trust with impartial reviews from professionals and consumers. They also effectively cross link their "product offerings" but each can stand on its own.

The one consistent theme is credibility - so that wherever you see an advertiser or a partner, you are also seeing general consumer information that will help you make an informed decision. They have designed the content and the site around this credibility.

We could group these into various "product" offerings:

1)      Search: for New Cars, Certified Cars, Used Cars

a)      You can find a car near you and identify various dealerships quickly.

b)      Design/Process of search behavior. Edmunds.com offers browsing by category or by make and it offers additional potential search initiators like "2007 Consumers Most Wanted," "2008 Lowest True Cost to Own," "More Best Car Awards" to help consumers. Once you have identified the make(s) and model(s) of the cars you are considering, Edmunds.com is already prepared with tools to help you further research your decision.

c)      Edmunds.com offers useful tools relating to price quotes with and without options, warranty information, car comparison tools and information about incentives and rebates. They link to resource articles about road tests and new model reviews as well so that a consumer can look at a vehicle, consider the pricing and options, read reviews and find the best deal possible, all before setting foot in a dealership. In this sense, they offer you the tool to look at and identify makes and models, they then offer a tool to find them in your area and then they offer you additional information critical to your decision making process.

d)      Edmunds.com identified the process a car buyer does/should go through and they created a series of tools, information and processes to support that.

2)      Access Information: Car Reviews, Tips & Advice

a)      This section is designed for getting even more information about a car in which you are interested. There are both Edmunds.com generated car reviews and consumer reviews as well as Buying Guides, Best Car Lists, Photos, Road Tests and more. Again, this is designed with the consumer in mind, whether they want "best car lists" or visual information or information about how the car drives. They also build credibility by hosting consumer reviews from real people as well.

b)      Edmunds understands that consumers come at information and the initial part of the buying decision from many different angles. This section is designed to be consistent with the New Cars and Used Cars sections in that it is organized by Vehicle Type, Price and Feature and then you can look at makes and models. 

c)      Edmunds has also designed information specific to demographic groups. There are guides about eco-friendly cars, young drivers, women and family drivers. The content served up is both generic and niche specific, thereby serving their huge audience (car drivers) effectively.

d)      Tips & Advice offers good generic questions and quick pieces of information to help car buyers. "10 Steps to Finding the Right Car For You" and "Spotting a Good Lease" help with specific topics and again, help consumers to wade through the glut of options in the industry and the industry hype to find the vehicle right for their circumstance.

3)      Service Providers and Information: Insurance and Finance

a)      The Insurance and Finance sections are interesting because they really integrate the consumer information that you also find in the review section and the tip and advice section with partner providers so the consumer can apply for insurance or financing options right then and there. They are able to maintain credibility, offer quick access to other service providers and profit from the setup.

4)      Community

a)      The community aspect might seem like an investment in resources that does not directly benefit - but by offering community members the ability to speak with each other and talk about common issues they bring people back into the site and generate a community and participate in valuable viral marketing for their advertisers. This also encourages people to post information about their experiences and ultimately feeds back into the credibility of information on the website.

From a technical standpoint, you'll need to ensure/consider that you have:

• Analytics to test overall success of product/site design and usability as well as to measure marketing results.
• Robust database for cross linking within a site with deep informational resources
• Robust search functionality
• Consumer feedback mechanism/tool
• Software for the integration of partner tools

Purchasing Management - Tasks related to setting up, running and monitoring purchasing activities of an organization.

In the case of purchasing management within a service based website, the company needs to ensure that its paid resources and purchasing processes are in alignment. Essentially, if we use Edmunds as an example again, they need to ensure that any content they need to purchase is lined up and ready and that the revenues related to the content production (SEO results, popularity) are in fact sustaining the investment.

If we are talking about a service organization using the web as a portal for advertising their business, they need to ensure that all service related resources are available, whether that is any sort of reporting, tool used in conducting the service, supplies etc.

From a technical standpoint, you'll need to ensure/consider that you have:

• Accounting solution to manage purchasing and forecasting
• Analytics to watch for seasonal, traffic and industry trends for enterprise planning
• Analytics to measure success factors of purchasing
• Credit card processing

Forecasting and Scheduling Management - Tasks relating to the management of the analytic process of determining customer demand including determining the demand on internal OM processes.

With all companies, forecasting and scheduling management are critical. Seasonality, changes in the market and current events can all directly impact service organizations. All of these service organizations need to be able to maintain security and functionality no matter the fluctuations in traffic and customer acquisition. Primarily this means maintaining accurate means of traffic and purchasing.

From a technical standpoint, you'll need to ensure/consider that you have:

• Analytics to measure and analyze traffic
• Accounting System to manage customers and service purchasing and accurately forecast trends and seasonality
  

Inventory Management - Tasks relating to the acquisition, maintenance and delivery of inventory to destinations inside and outside production operations.

Inventory management, in relation to items, is not germane in a discussion about service based websites but staffing, feed management and content generation are concerns which could be considered the "inventory" of a service based website.

• Accounting System
• Content Management System
• Analytics Tools
• Human Resources Management
  

Quality Management - Tasks required relating to the maintenance of product or service quality in finished products an organization provides to customers

Human Resources Management - Tasks relating to the planning, organizing, staffing and directing human resources.

Reengineering and Consulting Management - Tasks relating to the management of the restructuring of production processes in an effort to improve efficiency.