...Channels of Distribution In the uncertain fluctuating market of today, it is essential for a company to hold on and face those uncertainties in order to survive. Consumers can be an aid for a company's survival, thereby it is essential for consumers to get the goods of a company whenever and however they need them. Here is where distribution channels come in and give hand. "Channels of distribution are the different paths that goods passed through in moving from the producer to the consumer", (Meyer et al, 1988). With the help of distribution channels, companies are able to overcome the time, place and possession gaps that separate goods and services from the consumers. As said by Aaker (1984), access to an effective and efficient marketing channel is often a key success factor. However, in this competitive era, an understanding of the alternative distribution channels and the trends in their relative importance can be of strategic importance for any company. For example, the growth and importance can be of a self service retail gasoline stations and the comparison growth in the importance of convenience stores such as the 7/11 chain in gasoline retailing has strategic significance to petroleum companies and distributors as well as to firms in food retailing (example adapted from Aaker, 1984). Additionally, because of competition, gaining distribution in some industries can be extremely difficult and costly. Nowadays, even large, established firms have trouble obtaining...
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...Distribution and Channel Management MT211 The main aim of my essay is to show my understanding of the main principles and concepts of distribution and channel management through the use of notes on Moodle, information I gathered from attending lectures and also from literature that I have read on this topic. The Supply Chain is the sequence of suppliers that contribute to the creation and delivery of a good or service to end customers, meanwhile Supply Chain Management is organizing the cost effective flow and storage of materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information from point of origin to point of consumption to satisfy customer requirements. A major element of the supply chain is the use of logistics which is the management of the storage and flow of goods, services and information throughout your organisation. Logistics can be broken down into three major elements, Firstly, materials management which is the sourcing and receiving of raw materials or unfinished products for subsequent use. Secondly, material flow system which can be defined as the ability to locate and schedule material through to end production and disposition, and finally the physical distribution which is the delivery of finished goods to customers. The main aim of a supply chain management is to evolve a company’s supply chain into an optimally efficient, customer-satisfying process, where the effectiveness of the whole supply chain is more important than the effectiveness of...
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...1).NUMBER OF CHANNEL MEMBERS a. Channel level refers to each layer of marketing intermediaries that performs some work in bringing the product and its ownership closer to the final buyer. b. Direct marketing channel has no intermediary levels; the company sells directly to consumers. c. Indirect marketing channels contain one or more intermediaries. * These channel members are connected by types of flows: -Physical flow of products -Flow of ownership -Payment flow -Information flow -Promotion flow Type of Channel Members Channel activities may be carried out by the marketer or the marketer may seek specialist organizations to assist with certain functions. We can classify specialist organizations into two broad categories: resellers and specialty service firms. Resellers These organizations, also known within some industries as intermediaries, distributors or dealers, generally purchase or take ownership of products from the marketing company with the intention of selling to others. If a marketer utilizes multiple resellers within its distribution channel strategy the collection of resellers is termed a Reseller Network. These organizations can be classified into several sub-categories including: * Retailers – Organizations that sell products directly to final consumers. * Wholesalers – Organizations that purchase products from suppliers, such as manufacturers or other wholesalers, and in turn sell these to other resellers, such as retailers or other...
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...istribution Channels at Clothing Retailer Hennes & Mauritz A key ingredient in retailing success is the strength of a company's distribution channels. Kerry Capell's (2002) Business Week article looks at Sweden-based Hennes & Mauritz's (H&M) sourcing and inventory management strategies and their reliance on distribution channel partners. H&M has developed a unique distribution channel strategy to compete with better entrenched retailers including Gap, Old Navy, Zara and FCUK. H&M Product Strategy Understanding H&M's distribution strategy requires a clear understanding of their product philosophy and strategy. Like Gap and other clothing retailers, H&M markets to a particular segment of the fashion consumer market. H&M's philosophy is "Fashion and quality at the best price" (H&M, 2004). H&M keeps up with its competitors by providing a variety of styles from "updated classics and fashion basics" to cutting-edge fashion trends (H&M, 2004). Kotler defines the product as a combination of goods and services (Kotler et al, 2001). H&M seeks a product edge by providing affordable fashion lines similar to its competitors, but with a "fast turnaround" from design to production to sales floor (Capell, 2002). Capell focused on this integrated distribution channel in his article. Distribution Channel Outline Marketers often refer to the fourth P, place, as placement, logistics or distribution. Marketers must create a place or a way for logistics and physical delivery to get...
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...Nagar | OBSERVATION 1: Name of catering agency | No. of sales personnel | Customer GroupMin-Max | Outsourced Services | Service Charges (Per Plate) | Purnabrahma catering services | 20-80 | 100-1200 | Tent, utensils , ice creams | Rs.250-900/- | Distribution Channel 1: Inferences * The owner itself is order-taker for wedding purpose and office gatherings. * Two managers appointed one for Outsourcing and other for other services. * Average 30-40 people needed to execute one catering order. OBSERVATION 2: Name of catering agency | No. of sales personnel | Customer GroupMin-Max | Outsourced Services | Service Charges (Per Plate) | Govind Caterers | 35-65 | 120-1000 | Decoration, Tents, Water | Rs.200-750/- | Distribution Channel 2: Inferences * The firm has delegated their work into two parts Order Taker and Order Executor * The process to execute one catering order takes almost one week. * Approx 40 people needed in Average wedding order OBSERVATION 3: Name of catering agency | No. of sales personnel | Customer GroupMin-Max | Outsourced Services | Service Charges (Per Plate) | Sri Nandini caterers | 25-75 | 150-1500 | Transportation, Tents | Rs.180-950/- | Distribution Channel 3: Inferences * The Manager takes the...
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...DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL The California Pizza Kitchen strategy to build a strong company with leadership position in the pizza industry decided to expand their distribution channel by not just having company owned business but utilizing franchises to expand their customer base. Franchising provides the ability to expand business rapidly at less of a financial risk. Profits are higher due to lower costs. Another channel is their high quality fast-casual concept called California Pizza Kitchen ASAP. The ASAP restaurants are smaller than the full service restaurants and offer a limited menu in attractive high traffic areas. They offer in-house dining or take out. This channel allows the company to get their product out to the consumer at a lower cost with smaller overhead (smaller rents, less employees, lower utilities). They also teamed up with Kraft Pizza a division of Kraft Foods another distribution channel, which has a line of frozen pizzas that are sold to supermarkets. These additional channels provide growth opportunities and name recognition. Currently, Kraft distributes pizzas in supermarkets focusing on markets in which the restaurants are located in from east coast in Georgia, Maine, to the west coast in Arizona, Nevada and California. The extensive development process involved input from CPK so that they maintained the quality of the restaurant in the frozen product. From the Kraft Manufacturing building, the pizzas are delivered by trucks equipped...
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...Swedish Sawmill Distribution Channel Challenges Åsa Gustafsson asa.gustafsson@lnu.se Lars-Olof Rask lars-olof.rask@lnu.se School of Engineering Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden Abstract Purpose; The purpose of this study is to identify distribution channel research needs given the variety of distribution channel challenges among Swedish sawmill companies. Design / methodology / approach; Explorative case study research Findings: The paper proposes a typology of sawmill distribution channel challenges, as well as aligns research needs with distribution channel type. The typology is based on i) number of sawmill units within the firm, in combination with ii) distribution channel heterogeneity. Significant management decisions and research needs are identified for the different types. Research limitations / implications; This research makes tentative statements regarding typology of sawmill distribution channel challenges and potential research needs in the Swedish sawmill industry with regards to the respective typology. However, further research is needed in order to validate these results. What is original/value of paper: This paper focus on the sawmill industry distribution channels, which is a neglected but important area for sawmill’s competitive advantage. The paper also contributes to research by applying contingency theory and typology as an approach to deal with the variety of sawmills distribution channel challenges. Keywords; Typology, distribution channel challenges...
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...WORKING OF DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS BROKERS Insurance brokers act as an intermediary between clients and insurance companies. Clients may be either individuals or commercial businesses and organisations. They use their in-depth knowledge of risks and the insurance market to find and arrange suitable insurance policies and arrange cover. They act in the interest of their clients and offer products from more than one insurer to ensure that their clients get the best deal. Retail insurance brokers usually arrange insurance policies for individuals or companies and deal directly with them. Policies range from motor, house, travel or pet cover for individuals or property to employer's liability and public and product liability insurance. Commercial insurance brokers deal with high value and more complex insurance cover in areas such as marine, aviation, oil and gas and financial risks. AGENTS Insurance agents, who may be referred to as insurance sales agents, help clients choose insurance policies that suit their needs. Clients include individuals and families as well as businesses. Captive agents work for an insurance company, and only sell that company's products. They are one ones who connect with the customers emotionally. They are a good mediator between the insurer and the insured. They tell about the latest taste of the consumer in the market to the company. They generally work under (DO) development officer, who works under sales manager. There are many agents under one DO....
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...Web: www.beemanagement.com Email: bee@beemanagement.com Web: www.astrategies.com Email: info@astrategies.com ANALYSIS & EVALUATION OF DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS IN VARIOUS SECTORS The project involved analyzing and evaluating distribution channels of various companies belonging to sectors like: 1. Precious and semi precious stones, 2. White goods, 3. Cement, 4. FMCG Methodology: This research comprised of activities like listing down various agencies like manufacturers, distributors, etc and also chambers and libraries like the Indian merchant chambers and interacting with them in order to gather first hand information. PRECIOUS AND SEMI PRECIOUS STONES The Indian Gems and Jewellery industry is an age old industry and comprises mainly of two types of markets, viz the organized sector and the unorganized sector. The organized sector with branded jewelers, Public Sector Units (PSUs), etc forms only 10% of the precious and semi-precious stones market, whereas, the unorganized sector forms 90% of the gems and jewellery market in India. The unorganized sector employs around 1.5 million workers serving over 0.1 million gold jewelers and over 8000 diamond jewelers. Precious and semi-precious stones industry is a significant earner of foreign exchange. This sector contributes around 17% of India’s exports. The bulk of the Indian gems and jewellery exports comprise imports of rough diamonds, cutting and polishing in India, and re -exports. Cut and Polished Diamonds (CPD) and gold Jewellery...
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...How does a service company stay ahead of competition in meeting customer expectations? All else being equal, a company’s goal is to meet customer expectations better than its competitors can. Given the fact that adequate service expectations change rapidly in a turbulent environment, how can a company ensure that it stays ahead of competition? The adequate service level reflects the minimum performance level expected by customers after they consider a variety of personal and external factors (Figure 3.6), including the availability of service options from other providers. Companies whose service performance falls short of this level are clearly at a competitive disadvantage, with the disadvantage escalating as the gap widens. These companies’ customers may well be ‘reluctant’ customers, ready to take their business elsewhere the moment they perceive an alternative. If they are to use service quality for competitive advantage, companies must perform above the adequate service level. This level, however, may signal only a temporary advantage. Customers’ adequate service levels, which are less stable than desired service levels, will rise rapidly when competitors promise and deliver a higher level of service. If a company’s level of service is barely above the adequate service level to begin with, a competitor can quickly erode that advantage. Companies currently performing in the region of competitive advantage must stay alert to the need for service increases to...
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...Stored procedures Stored procedures can help improve application performance and reduce database access traffic. All database access must go across the network, which, in some cases, can result in poor performance. For each SQL statement, a database manager application must initiate a separate communication with DB2. To improve application performance, you can create stored procedures that run on your database server. A client application can then simply call the stored procedures to obtain results of the SQL statements that are contained in the procedure. Because the stored procedure runs the SQL statement on the server for you, database performance is improved. In addition, stored procedures can help to centralize business logic. If you make changes to a stored procedure, the changes are immediately available to all client applications that use it. Stored procedures are programs that have the following characteristics: • Contain procedural constructs with SQL statements • Are stored in databases and run on DB2 servers • Can be called by name by an application that is using SQL • Allow an application program to run in two parts: the application on the client and the stored procedure on the server The following figures show how two client applications access a database located on a database server. A client application that does not use stored procedures to access a database can require more network traffic. A client application that takes advantage of a...
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... Study Session 7 Irmaliz Romero Santo Domingo M00-49-9648 Finally you have accomplished it. You had a great idea, you've grown, you've overcome all the obstacles and you have your own business, with a business plan included. The first objective is achieved. And now what? You have a unique product, a niche market and you set an affordable price to the market for sale. But how will you sell the product? This was a very important question that our entire group made during the discussion of Hoverboard’s Marketing Plan. There are a multitude of channels that can be chosen for the product to go into the hands of the user, but we must know them before deciding which way to go. We summarized the three traditional distribution channels: the long one, in which the manufacturer sells to wholesaler, retailer and the latter to final customers; the medium, in which manufacturer, retailer and customer involved; and the short and direct channel, which sells directly to consumers. In practice, the first option that presents itself is to create your own store. Before starting to search for a space, you must have clear concepts such as where to locate it, the number of stores and the potential of the area. Hint: if you see many of your competitors in one are you must ask yourself, what’s cooking there? Of course, before you settle assess your ability to differentiate from your competitors and, if not yet very clear, better look for another area! But, how much is the start off point going...
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...Marketing Channel Strategy This page intentionally left blank Eighth Edition Marketing Channel Strategy Robert W. Palmatier University of Washington’s Foster School of Business Louis W. Stern Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management Adel I. El-Ansary University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montréal Toronto Delhi Mexico City São Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo Editor in Chief: Stephanie Wall Acquisitions Editor: Mark Gaffney Program Manager Team Lead: Ashley Santora Program Manager: Jennifer M. Collins Director of Marketing: Maggie Moylen Executive Marketing Manager: Anne Fahlgren Project Manager Team Lead: Judy Leale Project Manager: Thomas Benfatti Operations Specialist: Nancy Maneri Cover Designer: Suzanne Behnke Creative Director: Jayne Conte Digital Production Project Manager: Lisa Rinaldi Full Service Vendor: Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. Full Service Project Manager: Anandakrishnan Natarajan/Integra Software Services Printer/Binder: Courier/Westford Cover Printer: Lehigh-Phoenix Text Font: 10/12, ITC Garamond Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on appropriate page within text (or on page xix). Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice...
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...Germany Accepted 24 June 2002 Abstract The paper considers the significance of electronic commerce (e-commerce) for freight transport, logistics and physical distribution, regarding both business to business and business to consumer commerce. The possible implications of e-commerce are analysed in the broader context of structural change, going beyond narrow assessments that overstate the significance of e-commerce and its potential to make freight traffic more efficient. The main argument of the paper is threefold: first, most recent analyses of freight transport and logistics implications of e-commerce are overstating the current relevance of e-commerce applications on the one hand, and neglecting the influence of the underlying structural change in the entire logistics system on the other. Second, conventional analyses of certain efficiency benefits of ecommerce are probably too optimistic, whereas its negative effects are underestimated at the same time. E-commerce is likely to support longer transport distances and often higher delivery frequencies, increasing demand for land, due to the establishment of new transhipment points (distribution centres) and, to a certain extent, a shift towards truck and air freight transport modes. Third, e-commerce and IT are interrelated components of the structural change in distribution. They affect the environment in terms of vehicle miles, related emissions and energy consumption, by speeding up the time and increasing the geographic area...
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...transport, logistics and physical distribution, regarding both business to business and business to consumer commerce. The possible implications of e-commerce are analysed in the broader context of structural change, going beyond narrow assessments that overstate the significance of e-commerce and its potential to make freight traffic more efficient. The main argument of the paper is threefold: first, most recent analyses of freight transport and logistics implications of e-commerce are overstating the current relevance of e-commerce applications on the one hand, and neglecting the influence of the underlying structural change in the entire logistics system on the other. Second, conventional analyses of certain efficiency benefits of ecommerce are probably too optimistic, whereas its negative effects are underestimated at the same time. E-commerce is likely to support longer transport distances and often higher delivery frequencies, increasing demand for land, due to the establishment of new transhipment points (distribution centres) and, to a certain extent, a shift towards truck and air freight transport modes. Third, e-commerce and IT are interrelated components of the structural change in distribution. They affect the environment in terms of vehicle miles, related emissions and energy consumption, by speeding up the time and increasing the geographic area of transport operations. Whether e-commerce contributes to a more efficient distribution system or not very much depends...
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