Exam 15: Distributing Products

Saul-Mart is the name of a new chain of discount stores.A major part of Saul-Mart's competitive strategy is likely to be based on keeping its prices lower than those of other types of retailers.

Marketing intermediaries have survived because they have been able to perform marketing functions more efficiently and effectively than a manufacturer or consumer could perform these functions.

Many firms that want to use an intensive distribution strategy would find vending machines an attractive method of selling their goods.

Stan Raggio,Executive Vice-President of Global Supply Chain at GAP,Inc. ,has the responsibility of managing the global supply chain and quality control for his company.GAP™ designs its lines of clothing at its world headquarters in San Francisco.From there,design plans are shipped to various factories where clothing is contract manufactured.Several million containers of clothing leave factories by ship and are transported to various countries.In the U.S. ,these goods enter through the Port of Los Angeles.From there,they are put on rail,and travel to distribution centers throughout the U.S.At the distribution centers,cartons are packed into trucks and efficiently delivered to retail stores.GAP utilizes ________________,where multiple sources of transportation are used to ship its freight of clothing to retailers.

Agents and brokers and wholesalers are types of marketing intermediaries.

A freight forwarder breaks one large shipment into multiple small shipments so that it can be transported by trucks or aircraft with limited cargo capacities.

A distribution strategy that puts the product into as many retail outlets as possible is known as an intensive distributive strategy.

In a(n)__________ distribution system the producer manages all of the marketing functions at the retail level.

Logistics is concerned with the flow of information as well as with the flow of goods.

Jack Deck is a computer salesperson for a major retail electronics chain.When he advises customers to help them select a computer that will meet their needs,Jack is providing information utility.

The main difference between storage warehouses and distribution warehouses is that storage warehouses are relatively small,specialized facilities used to store one particular type of good for short periods while distribution warehouses are large facilities used to store a wide variety of goods for longer periods of time.

Fancy Feet sells high quality socks and stockings by sending catalogs to customers and offering them a toll-free telephone number so that they can call in their orders 24 hours a day any day of the year.Fancy Feet uses telemarketing.

Identify and describe the four basic types of distribution systems that are used to link firms in a formal relationship.

__________ is the value or want-satisfying ability that is added to products by organizations that make the product more useful or accessible to consumers.

With the current emphasis on product development,pricing,branding,and promotion,the physical distribution of materials and goods is no longer a major concern of marketing.

Kidder Manufacturing wants to ship a large quantity of its goods across the country.They have contacted Wayback Shipping,Inc.to find out what the shipment would cost.Wayback has shown Kidder how it can arrange to use a combination of barges,trains,and trucks to complete the shipment at a low cost.Wayback's strategy is an example of:

Warehouse clubs are usually smaller than supermarkets.

Mini-Case "We've got a number of important issues to discuss today," began Dee Stribyute as she opened the weekly marketing manager's meeting for Lite Bite Foods.Lite Bite is a producer of low fat,low calorie snack foods.The other managers attending the meeting were her two top assistants,Mark Etter and Rhea Taylor. "First,sales were hurt last year when we had to recall our almond chocolate bars because of concerns about contaminated ingredients.We've got our work cut out for us to recover from that setback.Many stores quit carrying our products,and even the ones that continued to do so put less emphasis on displaying and promoting them.We've got to get our products into as many stores as possible.Consumers shouldn't have to go all over town trying to find our snacks.We also need to make sure that our products are displayed and promoted in a way that attracts attention." Dee looked at her assistants,and saw that they seemed ready to make some proposals.However,she decided to get another important issue out on the table before stopping to discuss solutions,so she continued with her comments."The other big concern is the cost of moving our goods.Distribution costs are a major part of the overall cost of selling our goods.What can we do to make the flow of products from our kitchens to our ultimate consumers more efficient?" Having laid out her concerns,Dee sat down at the head of the table,saying to her assistants,"O.K.guys,I'm ready for suggestions." -The need for Lite Bite to recall its almond chocolate bars suggests that it had to be very concerned with:

Rack jobbers furnish racks or shelves full of merchandise to retailers and keep title to these goods until they are sold.

A(n)____________ consists of the marketing intermediaries that transport and store goods as they move through their path from producer to final user.