Marketing Channels and Distribution Notes

Marketing Channel: A group of individuals and organizations that directs the flow of products from producers to customers. This includes wholesalers, retailers, and other intermediaries who perform various functions such as marketing, sales, and logistics.
Distribution: Activities involved in making products available to customers when and where they want to purchase them. Effective distribution ensures products reach the target market efficiently.

The process involves:

Analyzing customer needs: Understanding what customers want, where they want to buy, and how they want to buy it.
Establishing channel objectives: Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for the channel.
Identifying major channel alternatives: Exploring different types of channels such as direct sales, indirect sales through intermediaries, online channels, and hybrid channels.
Evaluating major channel alternatives: Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each channel option based on cost, coverage, control, and adaptability.

Channel strategy is influenced by several factors:

Producer Factors: Resources, capabilities, and desire for control.
Product Factors: Complexity, price, standardization, life cycle, and delicacy.
Market Factors: Customer profiles, size of market, geographic location, competition, and environmental forces.

Discusses the different levels of distribution intensity including:

Exclusive Distribution: Granting exclusive rights to a single retailer or distributor in a specific geographic area.
Selective Distribution: Using a limited number of outlets in a geographic area to distribute a product.
Intensive Distribution: Distributing a product through all available outlets to maximize market coverage.

Several factors affect channel choice:

Customer profiles: Understanding the target customer's preferences and buying behavior.
Consumer or industrial customer: Tailoring the approach based on the type of customer.
Size of market: The overall scale of the market influences distribution strategies.
Geographic location: Where the customers are located and how easily they can be reached.
Competition: The intensity and nature of competition in the market.
Environmental forces: Economic, political, social, and technological factors.

Product complexity: More complex products may need more support and specialized channels.
Product price: Higher priced products may need more personalized service.
Product standardization: Standardized products can be sold through a wide range of channels.
Product life cycle: As the product matures, the distribution strategy may need to evolve.
Product delicacy: Fragile or perishable products require specialized handling and distribution.

Producer resources: Financial, human, and technological resources available to the producer.
Number of product lines: Producers with more product lines may have more bargaining power.
Desire for channel control: How much control the producer wants over pricing, promotion, and service.

Uses only some available outlets to distribute a product.
Appropriate for shopping products and durable goods with low replacement rates.
Desirable when special effort - such as customer service - is important.
Several, not everywhere; examples include certain retailers that align with the product's image and quality.

Relative rankings of transportation modes considering cost, transit time, reliability, capability, accessibility, and traceability: