Commentary: Cities as service factories? Using the servuction system for marketing cities as shopping destinations

States that the importance of retailing to the vitality and viability of many town and city centres is widely acknowledged. However, the marketing of these locations to date has largely focused on tourism or inward economic investment. Identifies many of the factors to be considered in the definition of the “place” product, with particular reference to how urban centres can define their retail “offer”. Proposes an exploratory conceptual framework for the determination of the urban retail offer based on the servuction system.