Thinking of the market as a place, "the marketplace", is a common practice of the general public. Such locations do exist as geographical areas within which trading occurs. In this context, we can think of world markets, international markets, American markets, regions, states, cities, and parts of cities. A shopping center, a block, a portion of a block, and even the site of a single retail store can be called a market.
While not as pervasive as the "people" component of the market, the "place" description of a market is important too. Since goods must be delivered to and customers attracted toward particular places where transactions are made, this identification of markets is useful for marketing decision-making purposes. Factors such as product features, price, location of facilities, routing salespeople, and promotional design are all affected by the geographic market. Even in the case of unmeasurable fields, such as religion, a marketplace might be Yankee Stadium in the state of New York in the United States, where Billy Graham is holding a revival. Finally, a market may be somewhere other than a geographical region, such as a catalogue or ad that allows you to place an order without the assistance of a marketing intermediary or an 800 number.
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