Distribution (marketing)
Distribution is fundamentally concerned with ensuring that products reach target customers in the most direct and cost-efficient manner.
The process of setting out a broad statement of the aims and objectives of a distribution channel is a strategic level decision.
In a push strategy, the marketer uses intensive advertising and incentives aimed at distributors, especially retailers and wholesalers, with the expectation that they will stock the product or brand, and that consumers will purchase it when they see it in stores.
[10][11] Typical intermediaries involved in distribution include: A firm can design any number of channels they require to reach customers efficiently and effectively.
In practice, distribution systems for perishable goods tend to be shorter - direct or single intermediary, because of the need to reduce the time a product spends in transit or in storage.
In addition, online retailing or e-commerce is leading to disintermediation, the removal of intermediaries from a supply chain.
Laurence C. Hart refers to the extensive development of these guilds and the "Training Schools" which they operated, converting these into a radio-based program from 1942.
Hart, who worked for the supplier, put this experience forward to the American Marketing Association as "an outstanding example of manufacturer-distributor collaboration on an industry-wide basis".
[18] A number of factors have led to an increase in channel switching behaviour; the growth of e-commerce, the globalization of markets, the advent of category killers (such as Officeworks and Kids 'R Us) as well as changes in the legal or statutory environment.
For instance, in Australia and New Zealand, following a relaxation of laws prohibiting supermarkets from selling therapeutic goods, consumers have gradually switched away from pharmacies and toward supermarkets for the purchase of minor analgesics, cough and cold preparations and complementary medicines such as vitamins and herbal remedies.
[19] For the consumer, channel switching offers a more diverse shopping experience, which may concern some sellers by its potential to erode market share.
Evidence of channel switching can suggest that disruptive forces are at play, and that consumer behaviour is undergoing fundamental changes.
[23] Although the term "customer fulfillment center" has been criticized on the grounds that it is a neologism, its use is becoming increasingly mainstream as it slowly makes its way into introductory marketing textbooks.
[24] Disintermediation occurs when manufacturers or service providers eliminate intermediaries from the distribution network and deal directly with purchasers.
