The purpose of this paper is to explain the importance of place as a marketing strategy, explain the positive impacts of delivering the right product on time, to the right destination and in the required quality and condition (Krippendorff, 2011). This improves customer satisfaction and retention hence the manufacturer maximizes profits with the readily available market of its products.
Direct distribution entails direct exchange of possession from the manufacturer to the buyer and it has increased in the recent years because of many reasons. The use of direct distribution has been improved by the use of innovative technologies, therefore with the increasing rate of advanced technology; there is corresponding increase in the use of direct distribution. Through direct distribution, a supplier will get to know one’s customers well and form a good relationship hence promoting the level of trust and communication. It also enables the manufacturer to be given appropriate response from customers and make any necessary corrections; this enhances customer satisfaction and comfort ability trading in such environments (Ferrell & Hartline, 2012).
Lack of speedy response from the customer and possible loss of regulation of the marketing strategies has forced many organizations to opt for direct distribution to eliminate the problems. Also bearing in mind there has been significant growth of internet and other relevant digital know-hows, many organizations have resolved to wired selling and opening their own stores (Levitt & Christensen, 2013). With the increasing levels of competition in the market, most manufacturers have resolved to direct distribution because it lowers charges of merchandises to customers, the extra charges that would have been charged by middlemen or intermediaries are eliminated.
Using intermediaries in the channel design has many advantages. One of them is that it aids in transporting the product through the network so that it befits the right customer. The other one is that most of the intermediaries by this time have reputable network of channels to spread to specific linkage of customers, therefore the manufacturer will have ready markets in place without doing many advertisements. The other point is that it is cheaper on the part of the manufactures since most of them lack the financial capacity to efficiently execute both production and supply, and therefore the intermediaries will have to do the distribution part to reduce costs (Levitt & Christensen, 2013).
Intermediaries act as a source of convenience to both the manufacturer of a product and the consumers, this is seen in the sense that the manufacturer will be using the retailers’ funds to facilitate the sale of their products, and the consumers will have ready access to the product. It is seen that producers going into the distribution industry have to carry free of charge products of other manufacturers so as to help in settling the high costs of distribution; these might lead to conflicts of interests since the other products might sale well compared to the ones the manufacturer is personally distributing, a situation that necessitates the need of using intermediaries (Krippendorff, 2011).
Exclusive distribution strategy entails the condition where the manufacturer intentionally limits the accessibility of their products in the market, hence achieving the spitting image of exclusiveness. This means that the product is reserved for a specific class of people in the market, for example the rich, for the emphasis of the product’s high-class appeal. Examples of such products are automobiles like Aston Martini cars. A long channel entails the use of more than one intermediary, the longer the channel means that the number of intermediaries is also large (Krippendorff, 2011). This type of marketing strategy affords many benefits to the manufacturer and consumer as well. With these, the manufacturers will benefit from the aspect of mutual business risks, if in case there are any loses; it will be distributed throughout the channels. The intermediaries will also offer skills, funds and knowledge to the manufacturer. The consumer will benefit from the sense that the product will be brought within their reach by the retailers.
Customer dissatisfaction can materialize from this aspect of marketing in many ways. This marketing strategy expounds on how a company gets the right product to the required place, in the right quantity and condition and at the right time, and if any of these aspects is not fulfilled, it will raise complaints from the customers, which also affects their satisfaction of the services provided. Too much distance between the product and its accessibility to customers adds liability to the customer and operations systems in the company (Ferrell & Hartline, 2013). This is because of the fact that customers might have to wait for longer periods of time for the product, which may result to dissatisfaction and choosing of alternative sources. The other aspect is that it is not easy to get speedy response form the customers especially if longer channels are used by the manufactures, and if the complaints from the customers needed urgent reply, it might lead to more misunderstandings between the manufacturer and the consumer.
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