Distribution Strategy free essay sample

In marketing, it is impossible to avoid consideration of marketing mix, which involves 4Ps. The 4Ps encompass: place, promotion, price and product (Viardot, 2004). This exposes one of crucial obligations of any marketing manager. That is, a marketing manager is responsible for formulating effective distribution strategy (place) in order to keep the other Ps moving (Distributionstrategy. org. , 2013). As a result, studies described distribution strategy as crucial prerequisite for success of any business (Chapter 15: Product Distribution, n. d. ). It is a plan of actions employed to move service/product from the manufacturer to the end consumers through different approaches such as physical distribution and distribution channels. Generally, it tries to describe where and how customers purchase firm’s service/products. Distribution strategy focuses on various factors, which encompass: location of the firm and target market, approaches of reaching the target market, warehousing, as well as transportation. In this paper, distribution strategy critically discussed besides evaluating how it used in consumer market. Channel intermediaries are firms or individuals such as wholesalers, agents, brokers, or retailers who help move a product from the producer to the consumer or business user. A company’s channel decisions directly affect every other marketing decision. Place decisions, for example, affect pricing. Marketers that distribute products through mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart will have different pricing objectives and strategies than will those that sell to specialty stores. Distribution decisions can sometimes give a product a distinct position in the market.The choice of retailers and other intermediaries is strongly tied to the product itself. Manufacturers select mass merchandisers to sell middle price ranged products while they distribute top-of-the-line products through high-end department and specialty stores. The firm’s sales force and communications decisions depend on how much persuasion, training, motivation, and support its channel partners need. Whether a company develops or acquires certain new products may depend on how well those products fit the capabilities of its channel members. Some companies pay too little attention to their distribution channels.