Marketing Mix (Place)

Distribution (Place) - Introduction

Source: www.tutor2u.net

Place (or its more common name “distribution”) is about how a business gets its products to the customers. 

It is one thing having a great product, sold at an attractive price.   But what if:

• Customers are not near a retailer that is selling the product?
• A competing product is stocked by a much wider range of outlets?
• A competitor is winning because it has a team of trained distributors or sales agents who are out there meeting customers and closing the sale?

Distribution matters for a business of any size – it is a crucial part of the marketing mix.

The objective of distribution is clear.  It is to:

To make products available in the right place at the right time in the right quantities

Distribution is achieved by using one or more distribution channels, including:

• Retailers
• Distributors / Sales Agents
• Direct (e.g. via e-commerce)
• Wholesalers

A distribution channel can be defined as:

"all the organisations through which a product must pass between its point of production and consumption"

Looking at that definition, you can see that a product might pass through several stages before it finally reaches the consumer.  The organisations involved in each stage of distribution are commonly referred to as “intermediaries”.

Place (Distribution) Powerpoint