Question

A direct marketing channel typically involves a producer and a consumer. In contrast, an indirect channel is a channel which includes one or more intermediaries (distributor, broker or agent). Companies usually employ multiple channels to reach more customers and improve sales. Some organizations may improve sales is by forging strategic channel unions while other firms may seek methods to trim middlemen within the channel. This process is known as disintermediation. Some of the channels through which companies make efforts to gain entrance into foreign markets include exporting, direct foreign investment, franchising, joint ventures, and licensing. With this in mind, write a short paper which provides answers to the questions below:

• Are direct marketing channels possible for some products and not others? Why or why not?

• Explain the value middlemen can add to products sales and marketing success.

• Think of the products you are currently using. Are there any of them you would prefer to buy through different marketing channels? Why?

Answer 1

EXPLANATION:

The physical structure, level of use, monetary value, degree of differentiation and intensity of use of each commodity vary. This determines whether it is marketed by intermediaries or by direct marketing. The items sold through direct marketing channels are very unique, personalized and sometimes high-value items such as industrial goods and equipment, real-estate insurance policies and specialized services such as travel packages, event management goods, etc. Products which are sold through traditional channel structures, on the other hand, are mass consumer goods such as supermarkets or basic durables such as cars and white products such as refrigerator washers and ovens which have little customization capacity.

Intermediaries can help the company access customers in various regions. We allow the bulk to be split and the goods to be shipped at fair cost at the right time and place. By using the popularity in the market to sell the goods, they add value to the process. They provide the business with useful consumer knowledge that may allow it to build a plan to gain competitive advantage. They can enable consumers to purchase the product in order to provide incentives for credit or easier finances.

Via conventional retail system I bought clothes. Yet now I think e-Commerce outlets like Amazon make it more economical. These remove the broker and allow the consumers to take advantage of better offers at lower prices, which otherwise can not be accomplished by inserting markings at different levels of the retail channel.