Is the measure of net income for a merchandising company conceptually the same for a service company?

Well if you look at it by the basics you will see both use the same Net income = revenue - expenses. However the income statement for the service company subtracts the operating expenses from the revenues to arrive at net income. The merchandising company subtracts the cost of merchandising from the revenue to arrive at gross profit. It then subtracts all other operating expenses to arrive at net income.