City centre offerings, including shopping, restaurants and cafes, and a lively atmosphere are vital place attributes, which together with several other elements create an attractive place. However, city centre retailing is facing serious competition from e-commerce and external shopping malls, and dying city centres appear to have become a worldwide epidemic in the last decade. To retain visitors in the city centre is a prioritized issue and a current topic, for both retail and place branding research. In the present study the role of different elements of city centre retailing in the promotion of a city as a retail destination is explored by analysing photos published on Instagram by a Town Centre Management initiative. The following research question is answered: What role can the place play in city centre retailing? The study is inter-disciplinary, showing how retail attributes and place elements can reinforce each other and together offer opportunities for unique customer experience in a city centre, for the benefit of both retailing and the city brand. Three dominant visual themes of the place’s role in the marketing of a city centre are identified: the place as a frame, the place as a living room, and the place as a stage.

中文翻译：

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地方在市中心零售中的作用

市中心提供的商品，包括购物、餐厅和咖啡馆，以及热闹的氛围是重要的地方属性，与其他几个元素一起创造了一个有吸引力的地方。然而，城市中心零售正面临来自电子商务和外部购物中心的激烈竞争，在过去十年中，垂死的城市中心似乎已成为一种全球流行病。留住市中心的游客是零售和场所品牌研究的优先问题和当前主题。在本研究中，通过分析市中心管理计划在 Instagram 上发布的照片​​，探讨了市中心零售的不同元素在促进城市作为零售目的地方面的作用。回答以下研究问题：这个地方在城市中心零售中可以扮演什么角色？该研究是跨学科的，展示了零售属性和场所元素如何相互加强，并共同为市中心提供独特的客户体验机会，从而使零售业和城市品牌受益。确定了该场所在城市中心营销中的三个主要视觉主题：作为框架的场所、作为客厅的场所和作为舞台的场所。