Sales channels to reach your customers
Selling through retailers, wholesalers and other distributors
Selling through an intermediary may be a more cost-effective way of reaching your end-customers than selling to them directly.
If you are targeting business customers who prefer to deal with large suppliers, selling directly to them may not be a realistic option. Instead, you might aim to supply wholesalers who have existing relationships with those businesses.
If individual consumers buy low value quantities of your products, the best option might be to target retailers that sell similar products. Or you might choose to focus your efforts on a relatively small number of wholesalers who can in turn supply your products to many retailers.
Other distribution channels may also reach your end-customers. For example, technology suppliers often sell to resellers who can configure and install the technology to suit end-users’ particular needs.
Managing your distributors
You need distributors who will value your product. If they sell competing products, what will make them push yours?
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Think about how you set your prices. Distributors will be more enthusiastic if they can make a large profit – but setting too low a price will eat into your own margins.
Effective advertising and promotions can be vital. As well as marketing to the distributor, you can promote your products directly to end-customers. Distributors will be keener to stock and sell products that their customers are asking for.
The key terms of the supply relationship should be covered in a written contract. Key issues might include:
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how much stock the distributor will hold
what the distributor will do to promote your products
how quickly you can resupply and minimum order levels
whether the distributor has exclusive rights to your product (for example, in a particular territory)
what happens if either you or the distributor want to end the relationship
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Evolving trends & new Frontiers in Marketing
The dynamic market forces the marketers to be on their toes always. Past few years we have seen customers have become over demanding and is looking for delights may be via better experience, new product categories which will satisfy their ever increasing needs. Some of the consumers are even ready to pay a premium for these differentiators for the aspirational brands and the upcoming luxury segment.At the same time customers have become more brand conscious. They prefer going for branded commodities for an extra penny. In past we have seen many commodities and low involvement categories being branded and many are on their way to get branded.Over a period of time marketers have understood that there are customers who have specific needs which need to be fulfilled by niche products. Marketers have traveled a journey from mass to micro marketing.These days customer care for convenience, which has forced marketers to go online for transactions and information dissemination of their companys product and services.With all this marketers also realized that the Indian urban market though look attractive, the treasure lies at the bottom of the pyramid. HLL, the FMCG leader realizes more than 50% sales from rural market. Other big and some regional players have tried to take this root, to overcome the saturated urban markets.But where are these brands, experiences, niche and premium products available? In 1999, the retail organized sector was 1% of total retail sales, which on date is 4% and is projected to be 10% in 2010. So we have seen a shift in consumer buying behavior, from Kirana stores to Malls. But still we will have to see a major change in Indian retailing.As product spaces become modularized, componentized, and compartmentalized to address the individual, customized, targeted needs of markets, the correspondent market space, and the value chains in them become more integrated. In a sense, products become disintegrated while markets become integrated. The future belongs not only to the convergence of devices, but also to divergent (i.e., specialized) devices.The forces that are causing and shaping all above are Globalization, Technological Development and Deregulation. Distances are dead and the advent of Internet finally administered coup de grace to technology based competitive advantages. These numerous changes are generating a host of new challenges and opportunities. Moreover, these opportunities need to be looked upon from fresh perspectives.Does that mean that the old and established principles of marketing are dead? No. Needs are still to be satisfied, Competition tackled and the biggest of all Customer is still the King.Its not an easy world for Marketers !!