Which Of The Following Is The Most Important For Retailers - T-Tees - Your Answers Await, Life's Questions Unraveled

Retailing Defined

When marketers plan their distribution strategies, they must determine which channel is best suited to get their goods and services into the hands of consumers. A distribution channel is a set of businesses that move the product or service from the manufacturer to the end user or buyer.3 Figure 18.2 outlines the most common types of distribution channels for consumer goods. These businesses, often called intermediaries, play important roles in the distribution of goods and services. Intermediaries are companies that act as liaisons between the buyer and seller. These companies can take on a variety of roles to facilitate the transfer of products and services from a manufacturer to the end user. The path that a product or service takes from seller to buyer, including the intermediaries, is called the distribution or marketing channel. The length of the channel—short or long—will depend on many factors, including the product itself.

You may be interested

When you first glance at Figure 18.2, it might seem logical for producers to simply provide goods and services directly to the consumer. Imagine that you were thirsty and wanted a cold can of Pepsi. However, you did not have any at home, and retailers did not exist. How would you get your Pepsi? Well, without retailers, you would have to rely on either going directly to the closest Pepsi bottling plant or requesting a Pepsi employee to deliver a can to your home. Can you imagine how costly that would be for PepsiCo? Now imagine doing that for every single product you wish to purchase. Obviously, this seems implausible—and almost laughable. While many companies have traditionally utilized longer channels to distribute their products, companies today often use more direct (shorter) channels or multiple channels. When a manufacturer utilizes multiple channels to distribute its product, it’s known as an omnichannel strategy. Amazon, for example, uses multiple distribution channels. Some products are sold directly to the consumer, while other products come from independent retailers, who then fulfill the order.

Refer to more articles: Which Of The Following Is Not A Snapchat Ad Objective

You are viewing: Which Of The Following Is The Most Important For Retailers

Consider another example: You are planning a trip with your friends. You have found a Marriott hotel that suits your needs. You may choose to book directly with Marriott through its website or reservation phone number. Alternatively, you may choose to book through a third party, such as Hotels.com, or even by calling your travel agent. Marriott is utilizing multiple channels for its service, so it is utilizing an omnichannel distribution approach.

Today, even social media plays a role in the distribution channel. Looking at the above example, Marriott might consider utilizing social media as yet another point of contact for the organization’s employees and customers to interact. Customers can often book a room and receive customer service directly through the company’s social media platforms.4 As you will learn later, the choice of which distribution channel to use depends largely on the type of product and the manufacturer’s strategy.

Four different distribution channels for consumers are shown. In the direct channel producers deliver to consumers. In the retail channel, producers deliver to retailers, who deliver to consumers. In the wholesale channel, producers deliver to wholesalers. Wholesalers deliver to retailers, who then deliver to consumers. In the agent channel producers deliver to agents or brokers, who then deliver to wholesalers. Wholesalers deliver to retailers, who then deliver to consumers. All of these channels start with producers and end with consumers. — Figure 18.2 Distribution Channels for Consumer Products (CC BY 4.0; Rice University & OpenStax)

Regardless of how many channel members are included in the distribution channel, retailing is the final stop in the channel before products and services reach the consumer. Retailing is the process of selling goods and services to consumers. As it relates to the distribution channel, retailers do not often manufacture the goods being sold. Rather, retailers buy products from the manufacturing firms or wholesalers and resell them to the consumer. While the number of traditional brick-and-mortar retail establishments has declined drastically over the past few decades, retailers remain an important part of the distribution channel. Retailing entails all activities involved in selling the goods and services to the consumer; in other words, retailers have their own marketing mix plan to accomplish their goals. Because retailing is the final link between the manufacturer and consumer, retailers have as much incentive to sell products as those who produce the product.

Refer to more articles: Which Of The Following Are Financially Driven Reasons For Outsourcing.

Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHICH