Deck 14: Marketing Channels and Supply-Chain Management

Question 1

Procter Gamble Tunes Up Channels and Transportation
From Duracell to Dawn, Pampers to Prilosec, Procter Gamble markets some of the world's best-known brands for household needs, health care, personal care, and baby care. Its portfolio includes 25 brands that bring in more than $1 billion each every year, plus another 15 that bring in at least $500 million every year. In all, Procter Gamble rings up $84 billion in sales through traditional stores and online retailers in 180 countries.
Because nearly all of Procter Gamble's products are convenience goods, the company uses intensive distribution market coverage. Among the retailers that carry its products are supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores, discount stores, and warehouse clubs. Shelf space is valuable, so not all stores carry the entire product line in any given category. In many stores, Procter Gamble's branded items compete for shelf space not only with other manufacturers' brands, but also with store brands. This isn't always the case, however. For example, Procter Gamble recently signed an exclusive distribution arrangement with Sam's Club, making Duracell the only national brand of batteries sold in those warehouse stores. And, knowing that warehouse stores have limited back-room storage space, Procter Gamble makes more frequent deliveries to ensure that its products are always in stock for club members.
Eyeing long-term growth in emerging markets, which already account for 40 percent of its sales, Procter Gamble is always looking for a distribution edge that will put its products on more shelves. When the company acquired Gillette in 2005, it also obtained access to the marketing channels Gillette had established for its razors, blades, and other accessories. This helped Procter Gamble gain additional distribution for a wider range of products in India and Brazil, among other nations.
Procter Gamble is testing new Internet and mobile channels for some of its everyday products. In one Toronto experiment, it teamed with the online retailer Well.ca to create posters of frequentlypurchased products like Crest toothpaste and Pampers disposable diapers, along with QR (quick response) codes that can be scanned by consumers with QR apps on their smartphones. The posters were positioned in a busy downtown building adjacent to the subway, where time-pressured commuters could take a minute or two to scan the items they wanted to purchase and arrange delivery from Well.ca at a convenient hour. In another Toronto experiment, Procter Gamble teamed with Walmart Canada to create virtual stores inside 50 bus shelters. As consumers waited for a bus, they used their smartphones to scan QR codes for baby products, beauty products, and other merchandise, and set a time for later delivery. Tests such as these help both the manufacturer and retailers to refine future marketing efforts as technology evolves.
In addition, the Internet retailing pioneer Amazon.com has asked Procter Gamble to help it speed up delivery of products sold online. At Amazon's request, Procter Gamble has roped off a small, separate area inside seven of its distribution centers, reserving this space just for the use of Amazon. These centers in the United States, Japan, and Germany hold cartons and cartons of bulky products like Pampers disposable diapers and Bounty paper towels while they await delivery to retailers. Instead of trucking these goods to Amazon's distribution centers when needed, Procter Gamble simply shifts them to the separate Amazon section of the building. There, Amazon employees select individual items to fulfill customer orders and ship the boxes directly from the distribution center to consumers. Not only does this save time, but it also saves money for both Procter Gamble and Amazon.
Efficiency is vital when a marketer like Procter Gamble distributes products in such massive quantities. In North America alone, the company prepares 800,000 shipments annually for delivery to retailers' warehouses and distribution centers. Shaving even a few dollars per shipment adds up to a significant savings over time. Greener transportation is also helping Procter Gamble save money while it helps protect the planet. Although the company maintains a small fleet of trucks, most of its products are transported by 80 outside trucking companies. Procter Gamble is working with the truckers to significantly increase the percentage of shipments transported by vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, making physical distribution greener in environmental and financial terms.
Questions for Discussion
Do you think Procter Gamble should use a direct channel to sell to consumers? Identify one or more arguments for and against using a direct channel for disposable diapers and paper towels.

Answer 1

Introduction:
The case deals with Company PG's transportation and channels. The annual sales of Company PG are more than $70 billion and they have online retailers in 180 countries. The firm uses intensive distribution market coverage and the retailers would carry the product to various market places or stores. The case further deals with the internet and mobile channels that are being tested by the firm and their view on long-term growth in emerging markets.
Determine whether Company PG should use the direct channel to sell products:
Company PG is experimenting to eliminate the middle-man between the firm and the customers. In order to understand the demand of the customer, they need to capture consumer analytics. It is risky, as it might spoil the relationship with the retailer.
Lower overhead cost, a higher rate of profits, and no middle-man to share the profits are the advantages of having a direct distribution channel to sell products.
Competition with the tradition store, threatening the relationship with the retailers are the disadvantage of having a direct distribution channel to sell products.

Question 2

Define supply-chain management. Why is it important?

Answer 2

Supply chain management:
Supply chain management refers to the approaches that are used to synchronize the functions of operations management, supply management, logistics management and marketing channel management. One of the main objectives of supply chain management is to produce and distribute goods and services in an appropriate quantity, to the right locations, and at the appropriate time.
Activities that form supply chain management include manufacturing, sales, research, shipping, advertising, and coordination among all these activities so that an optimum level of efficiency can be achieved.
Importance of supply chain management:
• Effective supply chain management enables companies to provide quality customer service. It happens because the right quantity is delivered at the right time to consumers. It in turn helps in satisfying consumers.
• It helps in improving the bottom line of companies, i.e., profits. It happens because effective supply chain management leads to low usage of fixed assets, like plants and transportation vehicles. Also, as the rate of delivery of the final product to consumers increases, profits improve.
• Since effective supply chain management helps streamline workflow, products can also be delivered during a crisis.

Question 3

One of the key components in a successful marketing strategy is the plan for getting the products to your customer. To make the best decisions about where, when, and how your products will be made available to the customer, you need to know more about how these distribution decisions relate to other marketing mix elements in your marketing plan. To assist you in relating the information in this chapter to your marketing plan, consider the following issues:
Marketing intermediaries perform many activities. Using Table 15.2 as a guide, discuss the types of activities where a channel member could provide needed assistance.

The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Answer 3

Different marketing intermediaries perform following activities that assist in making products available to customers at the right time and at the right place:
Marketing research:
Marketing research firms helps in conducting marketing research, analysing sales data and other relevant information available in databases and information systems.
Marketing management:
Firms providing tools like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) assists in establishing strategic plans for developing relationships with customers.
Promotional activities:
Intermediaries like advertisement and public relations firms assists in promotional activities like advertising, publicity and packaging.
Physical distribution:
Firms specialising in providing distribution related activities like FedEx assist in managing transportation, warehousing and inventory control.
Assisting in exchanges:
Intermediaries also assist in facilitating exchanges by assorting products that meet the requirement of customers.

Question 4

Taza Cultivates Channel Relationships with Chocolate Taza Chocolate is a small Massachusetts-based manufacturer of stone-ground organic chocolate made in the classic Mexican tradition. Founded in 2006, Taza markets most of its products through U.S. retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Individual customers around the world can also buy Taza chocolate bars, baking squares, chocolate-covered nuts, and other specialty items directly from the Taza website. If they live in Somerville, Massachusetts, they might even find a Taza employee riding a "chococycle," selling products and distributing samples at an upscale food truck festival or a weekend market festival.
Taza seeks to make personal connections with all the certified organic growers who supply its ingredients. "Because our process here at the factory is so minimal," says the company's director of sales, "it's really important that we get a very high-quality ingredient. To make sure that we're getting the absolute cream of the [cocoa] crop, we have a direct face-to-face human relationship between us and the actual farmer who's producing those beans."
Dealing directly with suppliers allows Taza to meet its social responsibility goals while ensuring the kind of quality that commands a premium price. "We're a premium brand," explains the director of sales, "and because of the way we do what we do, we have to charge more than your average chocolate bar." A Taza chocolate bar that sells at a retail price of $4.50 carries a wholesale price of about $2.70. The distributor's price, however, is even lower, closer to $2.00.
Distributors buy in the largest quantities, which for Taza means a pallet load rather than a case that a wholesaler would buy. "But wholesale will always be our bread and butter, where we really move the volume and we have good margins," says Taza's director of sales. In the company's experience, distributors are very price-conscious and more interested than wholesalers in promotions and extras.
Taza offers factory tours at its Somerville site, charging a small entrance fee that includes a donation to Sustainable Harvest International. There, visitors can watch the bean-tobar process from beginning to end, learning about the beans and the stone-ground tradition that differentiates Taza from European chocolates. Visitors enjoy product samples along the way and, at the end of the tour, they can browse through the factory store and buy freshly-made specialties like chipotle chili chocolate and ginger chocolate. On holidays like Halloween and Valentine's Day, Taza hosts special tastings and limited-edition treats to attract customers to its factory store. Its annual beer-and-chocolate pairing event, hosted with the Drink Craft Beer website, is another way to introduce Taza to consumers who appreciate quality foods and drinks.
Taza's marketing communications focus mainly on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, e-mail, and specialty food shows. Also, the company frequently offers samples in upscale and organic food stores in major metropolitan areas. As it does with its growers, Taza seeks to forge personal relationships with its channel partners. "When we send a shipment of chocolate," says the sales director, "sometimes we'll put in a little extra for the people who work there. That always helps because [it's] building that kind of human relationship."
Privately-owned Taza has begun shipping to Canada and a handful of European countries. Its channel arrangements must allow for delivering perishable products that stay fresh and firm, no matter what the weather. As a result, distributors often hold some Taza inventory in refrigerated warehouses to have ready for next-day delivery when retailers place orders.
Which distribution channels does Taza use, and why are they appropriate for this company?

Question 5

Procter Gamble Tunes Up Channels and Transportation
From Duracell to Dawn, Pampers to Prilosec, Procter Gamble markets some of the world's best-known brands for household needs, health care, personal care, and baby care. Its portfolio includes 25 brands that bring in more than $1 billion each every year, plus another 15 that bring in at least $500 million every year. In all, Procter Gamble rings up $84 billion in sales through traditional stores and online retailers in 180 countries.
Because nearly all of Procter Gamble's products are convenience goods, the company uses intensive distribution market coverage. Among the retailers that carry its products are supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores, discount stores, and warehouse clubs. Shelf space is valuable, so not all stores carry the entire product line in any given category. In many stores, Procter Gamble's branded items compete for shelf space not only with other manufacturers' brands, but also with store brands. This isn't always the case, however. For example, Procter Gamble recently signed an exclusive distribution arrangement with Sam's Club, making Duracell the only national brand of batteries sold in those warehouse stores. And, knowing that warehouse stores have limited back-room storage space, Procter Gamble makes more frequent deliveries to ensure that its products are always in stock for club members.
Eyeing long-term growth in emerging markets, which already account for 40 percent of its sales, Procter Gamble is always looking for a distribution edge that will put its products on more shelves. When the company acquired Gillette in 2005, it also obtained access to the marketing channels Gillette had established for its razors, blades, and other accessories. This helped Procter Gamble gain additional distribution for a wider range of products in India and Brazil, among other nations.
Procter Gamble is testing new Internet and mobile channels for some of its everyday products. In one Toronto experiment, it teamed with the online retailer Well.ca to create posters of frequentlypurchased products like Crest toothpaste and Pampers disposable diapers, along with QR (quick response) codes that can be scanned by consumers with QR apps on their smartphones. The posters were positioned in a busy downtown building adjacent to the subway, where time-pressured commuters could take a minute or two to scan the items they wanted to purchase and arrange delivery from Well.ca at a convenient hour. In another Toronto experiment, Procter Gamble teamed with Walmart Canada to create virtual stores inside 50 bus shelters. As consumers waited for a bus, they used their smartphones to scan QR codes for baby products, beauty products, and other merchandise, and set a time for later delivery. Tests such as these help both the manufacturer and retailers to refine future marketing efforts as technology evolves.
In addition, the Internet retailing pioneer Amazon.com has asked Procter Gamble to help it speed up delivery of products sold online. At Amazon's request, Procter Gamble has roped off a small, separate area inside seven of its distribution centers, reserving this space just for the use of Amazon. These centers in the United States, Japan, and Germany hold cartons and cartons of bulky products like Pampers disposable diapers and Bounty paper towels while they await delivery to retailers. Instead of trucking these goods to Amazon's distribution centers when needed, Procter Gamble simply shifts them to the separate Amazon section of the building. There, Amazon employees select individual items to fulfill customer orders and ship the boxes directly from the distribution center to consumers. Not only does this save time, but it also saves money for both Procter Gamble and Amazon.
Efficiency is vital when a marketer like Procter Gamble distributes products in such massive quantities. In North America alone, the company prepares 800,000 shipments annually for delivery to retailers' warehouses and distribution centers. Shaving even a few dollars per shipment adds up to a significant savings over time. Greener transportation is also helping Procter Gamble save money while it helps protect the planet. Although the company maintains a small fleet of trucks, most of its products are transported by 80 outside trucking companies. Procter Gamble is working with the truckers to significantly increase the percentage of shipments transported by vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, making physical distribution greener in environmental and financial terms.
Questions for Discussion
What issues in channel conflict might arise from Procter Gamble's special arrangements with Amazon.com?

Question 6

Describe the major functions of marketing channels. Why are these functions better accomplished through combined efforts of channel members?

Question 7

One of the key components in a successful marketing strategy is the plan for getting the products to your customer. To make the best decisions about where, when, and how your products will be made available to the customer, you need to know more about how these distribution decisions relate to other marketing mix elements in your marketing plan. To assist you in relating the information in this chapter to your marketing plan, consider the following issues:
Using Figure 15.2 (or 15.3 if your product is a business product), determine which of the channel distribution paths is most appropriate for your product. Given the nature of your product, could it be distributed through more than one of these paths?


The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Question 8

Taza Cultivates Channel Relationships with Chocolate Taza Chocolate is a small Massachusetts-based manufacturer of stone-ground organic chocolate made in the classic Mexican tradition. Founded in 2006, Taza markets most of its products through U.S. retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Individual customers around the world can also buy Taza chocolate bars, baking squares, chocolate-covered nuts, and other specialty items directly from the Taza website. If they live in Somerville, Massachusetts, they might even find a Taza employee riding a "chococycle," selling products and distributing samples at an upscale food truck festival or a weekend market festival.
Taza seeks to make personal connections with all the certified organic growers who supply its ingredients. "Because our process here at the factory is so minimal," says the company's director of sales, "it's really important that we get a very high-quality ingredient. To make sure that we're getting the absolute cream of the [cocoa] crop, we have a direct face-to-face human relationship between us and the actual farmer who's producing those beans."
Dealing directly with suppliers allows Taza to meet its social responsibility goals while ensuring the kind of quality that commands a premium price. "We're a premium brand," explains the director of sales, "and because of the way we do what we do, we have to charge more than your average chocolate bar." A Taza chocolate bar that sells at a retail price of $4.50 carries a wholesale price of about $2.70. The distributor's price, however, is even lower, closer to $2.00.
Distributors buy in the largest quantities, which for Taza means a pallet load rather than a case that a wholesaler would buy. "But wholesale will always be our bread and butter, where we really move the volume and we have good margins," says Taza's director of sales. In the company's experience, distributors are very price-conscious and more interested than wholesalers in promotions and extras.
Taza offers factory tours at its Somerville site, charging a small entrance fee that includes a donation to Sustainable Harvest International. There, visitors can watch the bean-tobar process from beginning to end, learning about the beans and the stone-ground tradition that differentiates Taza from European chocolates. Visitors enjoy product samples along the way and, at the end of the tour, they can browse through the factory store and buy freshly-made specialties like chipotle chili chocolate and ginger chocolate. On holidays like Halloween and Valentine's Day, Taza hosts special tastings and limited-edition treats to attract customers to its factory store. Its annual beer-and-chocolate pairing event, hosted with the Drink Craft Beer website, is another way to introduce Taza to consumers who appreciate quality foods and drinks.
Taza's marketing communications focus mainly on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, e-mail, and specialty food shows. Also, the company frequently offers samples in upscale and organic food stores in major metropolitan areas. As it does with its growers, Taza seeks to forge personal relationships with its channel partners. "When we send a shipment of chocolate," says the sales director, "sometimes we'll put in a little extra for the people who work there. That always helps because [it's] building that kind of human relationship."
Privately-owned Taza has begun shipping to Canada and a handful of European countries. Its channel arrangements must allow for delivering perishable products that stay fresh and firm, no matter what the weather. As a result, distributors often hold some Taza inventory in refrigerated warehouses to have ready for next-day delivery when retailers place orders.
In what ways does Taza benefit from selling directly to some consumers? What are some potential problems of selling directly to consumers?

Question 9

Procter Gamble Tunes Up Channels and Transportation
From Duracell to Dawn, Pampers to Prilosec, Procter Gamble markets some of the world's best-known brands for household needs, health care, personal care, and baby care. Its portfolio includes 25 brands that bring in more than $1 billion each every year, plus another 15 that bring in at least $500 million every year. In all, Procter Gamble rings up $84 billion in sales through traditional stores and online retailers in 180 countries.
Because nearly all of Procter Gamble's products are convenience goods, the company uses intensive distribution market coverage. Among the retailers that carry its products are supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores, discount stores, and warehouse clubs. Shelf space is valuable, so not all stores carry the entire product line in any given category. In many stores, Procter Gamble's branded items compete for shelf space not only with other manufacturers' brands, but also with store brands. This isn't always the case, however. For example, Procter Gamble recently signed an exclusive distribution arrangement with Sam's Club, making Duracell the only national brand of batteries sold in those warehouse stores. And, knowing that warehouse stores have limited back-room storage space, Procter Gamble makes more frequent deliveries to ensure that its products are always in stock for club members.
Eyeing long-term growth in emerging markets, which already account for 40 percent of its sales, Procter Gamble is always looking for a distribution edge that will put its products on more shelves. When the company acquired Gillette in 2005, it also obtained access to the marketing channels Gillette had established for its razors, blades, and other accessories. This helped Procter Gamble gain additional distribution for a wider range of products in India and Brazil, among other nations.
Procter Gamble is testing new Internet and mobile channels for some of its everyday products. In one Toronto experiment, it teamed with the online retailer Well.ca to create posters of frequentlypurchased products like Crest toothpaste and Pampers disposable diapers, along with QR (quick response) codes that can be scanned by consumers with QR apps on their smartphones. The posters were positioned in a busy downtown building adjacent to the subway, where time-pressured commuters could take a minute or two to scan the items they wanted to purchase and arrange delivery from Well.ca at a convenient hour. In another Toronto experiment, Procter Gamble teamed with Walmart Canada to create virtual stores inside 50 bus shelters. As consumers waited for a bus, they used their smartphones to scan QR codes for baby products, beauty products, and other merchandise, and set a time for later delivery. Tests such as these help both the manufacturer and retailers to refine future marketing efforts as technology evolves.
In addition, the Internet retailing pioneer Amazon.com has asked Procter Gamble to help it speed up delivery of products sold online. At Amazon's request, Procter Gamble has roped off a small, separate area inside seven of its distribution centers, reserving this space just for the use of Amazon. These centers in the United States, Japan, and Germany hold cartons and cartons of bulky products like Pampers disposable diapers and Bounty paper towels while they await delivery to retailers. Instead of trucking these goods to Amazon's distribution centers when needed, Procter Gamble simply shifts them to the separate Amazon section of the building. There, Amazon employees select individual items to fulfill customer orders and ship the boxes directly from the distribution center to consumers. Not only does this save time, but it also saves money for both Procter Gamble and Amazon.
Efficiency is vital when a marketer like Procter Gamble distributes products in such massive quantities. In North America alone, the company prepares 800,000 shipments annually for delivery to retailers' warehouses and distribution centers. Shaving even a few dollars per shipment adds up to a significant savings over time. Greener transportation is also helping Procter Gamble save money while it helps protect the planet. Although the company maintains a small fleet of trucks, most of its products are transported by 80 outside trucking companies. Procter Gamble is working with the truckers to significantly increase the percentage of shipments transported by vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, making physical distribution greener in environmental and financial terms.
Questions for Discussion
Would you recommend that Procter Gamble use any mode of transportation other than trucks to transport cartons to retailers? Explain your answer.

Question 10

List several reasons consumers often blame intermediaries for distribution inefficiencies.

Question 11

One of the key components in a successful marketing strategy is the plan for getting the products to your customer. To make the best decisions about where, when, and how your products will be made available to the customer, you need to know more about how these distribution decisions relate to other marketing mix elements in your marketing plan. To assist you in relating the information in this chapter to your marketing plan, consider the following issues:
Determine the level of distribution intensity that is appropriate for your product. Consider the characteristics of your target market(s), the product attributes, and environmental factors in your deliberation.
The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Question 12

Taza Cultivates Channel Relationships with Chocolate Taza Chocolate is a small Massachusetts-based manufacturer of stone-ground organic chocolate made in the classic Mexican tradition. Founded in 2006, Taza markets most of its products through U.S. retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Individual customers around the world can also buy Taza chocolate bars, baking squares, chocolate-covered nuts, and other specialty items directly from the Taza website. If they live in Somerville, Massachusetts, they might even find a Taza employee riding a "chococycle," selling products and distributing samples at an upscale food truck festival or a weekend market festival.
Taza seeks to make personal connections with all the certified organic growers who supply its ingredients. "Because our process here at the factory is so minimal," says the company's director of sales, "it's really important that we get a very high-quality ingredient. To make sure that we're getting the absolute cream of the [cocoa] crop, we have a direct face-to-face human relationship between us and the actual farmer who's producing those beans."
Dealing directly with suppliers allows Taza to meet its social responsibility goals while ensuring the kind of quality that commands a premium price. "We're a premium brand," explains the director of sales, "and because of the way we do what we do, we have to charge more than your average chocolate bar." A Taza chocolate bar that sells at a retail price of $4.50 carries a wholesale price of about $2.70. The distributor's price, however, is even lower, closer to $2.00.
Distributors buy in the largest quantities, which for Taza means a pallet load rather than a case that a wholesaler would buy. "But wholesale will always be our bread and butter, where we really move the volume and we have good margins," says Taza's director of sales. In the company's experience, distributors are very price-conscious and more interested than wholesalers in promotions and extras.
Taza offers factory tours at its Somerville site, charging a small entrance fee that includes a donation to Sustainable Harvest International. There, visitors can watch the bean-tobar process from beginning to end, learning about the beans and the stone-ground tradition that differentiates Taza from European chocolates. Visitors enjoy product samples along the way and, at the end of the tour, they can browse through the factory store and buy freshly-made specialties like chipotle chili chocolate and ginger chocolate. On holidays like Halloween and Valentine's Day, Taza hosts special tastings and limited-edition treats to attract customers to its factory store. Its annual beer-and-chocolate pairing event, hosted with the Drink Craft Beer website, is another way to introduce Taza to consumers who appreciate quality foods and drinks.
Taza's marketing communications focus mainly on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, e-mail, and specialty food shows. Also, the company frequently offers samples in upscale and organic food stores in major metropolitan areas. As it does with its growers, Taza seeks to forge personal relationships with its channel partners. "When we send a shipment of chocolate," says the sales director, "sometimes we'll put in a little extra for the people who work there. That always helps because [it's] building that kind of human relationship."
Privately-owned Taza has begun shipping to Canada and a handful of European countries. Its channel arrangements must allow for delivering perishable products that stay fresh and firm, no matter what the weather. As a result, distributors often hold some Taza inventory in refrigerated warehouses to have ready for next-day delivery when retailers place orders.
In what ways are Taza's distribution efforts influenced by the fact that its products are organic?

Question 13

Compare and contrast the four major types of marketing channels for consumer products. Through which type of channel is each of the following products most likely to be distributed?
a. New automobiles
b. Saltine crackers
c. Cut-your-own Christmas trees
d. New textbooks
e. Sofas
f. Soft drinks

Question 14

One of the key components in a successful marketing strategy is the plan for getting the products to your customer. To make the best decisions about where, when, and how your products will be made available to the customer, you need to know more about how these distribution decisions relate to other marketing mix elements in your marketing plan. To assist you in relating the information in this chapter to your marketing plan, consider the following issues:
Discuss the physical functions that will be required for distributing your product, focusing on materials handling, warehousing, and transportation.
The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Question 15

Outline the four most common channels for business products. Describe the products or situations that lead marketers to choose each channel.

Question 16

Describe an industrial distributor. What types of products are marketed through an industrial distributor?

Question 17

Under what conditions is a producer most likely to use more than one marketing channel?

Question 18

Identify and describe the factors that may influence marketing channel selection decisions.

Question 19

Explain the differences among intensive, selective, and exclusive methods of distribution.

Question 20

"Channel cooperation requires that members support the overall channel goals to achieve individual goals." Comment on this statement.

Question 21

Explain the major characteristics of each of the three types of vertical marketing systems (VMSs): corporate, administered, and contractual.

Question 22

Discuss the cost and service trade-offs involved in developing a physical distribution system.

Question 23

What are the main tasks involved in order processing?

Question 24

Explain the trade-offs that inventory managers face when they reorder products or supplies. How is the reorder point computed?

Question 25

Explain the major differences between private and public warehouses. How do they differ from a distribution center?

Question 26

Compare and contrast the five major transportation modes in terms of cost, speed, and dependability.

Question 27

Under what conditions are tying agreements, exclusive dealing, and dual distribution judged illegal?