---
sourceDocument: Brazil Retail Industry
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/retail-industry

 Release :

    - brazil

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Brazil Retail Industry

ft:clusterId :

    - rahi

bundleId :

    - rahi

workflow :

    - Customer and Industry


---

# Service definitions in Retail

# Service definitions in Retail {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Brazil  
Updated June 28, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
A service definition describes a service that a retail organization offers to support its stores or customers. Service definitions build on case types to encapsulate different types of request and fulfillment processes within a
single case type, without creating a new table for every variation.

Defining the services a retail service organization delivers is a foundational component of every Retail implementation. Without service definitions, the processes service definitions are meant to reflect are often incorrectly modeled in the category and subcategory field structures of cases.

## Why service definitions matter {#rahi-retail-service-definitions__section_why_service_definitions}

Categories and subcategories track the long-term root cause of cases---the why behind an issue. Without service definitions, category and subcategory values are commonly used to capture both the service being requested
(the what) and the reason for the case (the why). This leads to category sprawl and reduced data quality because the category structure must serve two purposes.

By using service definitions to identify the requested service, category and subcategory values can focus solely on capturing the root cause of the case. This separation produces cleaner reporting data and makes it easier to
identify trends over time.

## Service definitions versus case types {#rahi-retail-service-definitions__section_service_def_vs_case_type}

Use a service definition when different work types share the same required attributes and automations within a single case type. Create a new case case type when the process requires fundamentally different fields, state models, or
automation logic. For a full decision framework, see [Extending the Retail base case](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/JlrG73jzrFXmpcAORcu1gA "Extend the Retail Case (sn_retail_case) base case to create custom case types that take advantage of prebuilt roles, business rules, workflows, and the Retail data model rather than creating them manually.").
**Related tasks**   

* [Create a service definition for multi-store cases in Retail Task Management Core](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/xMw7d72paMJQboT7qVitXA "Create a service definition that leverages the multi-store creation engine to create multi-store retail cases.")  
**Related topics**   

* [Service definitions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=csm-service-definitions&version=brazil&pubname=brazil-customer-service-management&ft:locale=en-US)