This document discusses the unique characteristics of services compared to goods. It begins by outlining the four unique characteristics of services: intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, and perishability. For each characteristic, the document describes what it refers to and provides marketing implications. It then discusses challenges in marketing services given these characteristics. The document also introduces the concept of a goods-services continuum and expands the traditional marketing mix for goods to include an additional four Ps for services: People, Physical Evidence, Process, and Productivity and Quality.