L8, Distribution and supply chain management Flashcards
what happened during the industrial revolution?
(late 19th century/early 20th centry)
- Mass production to obtain economies of scale
- a need for mass distribution
What gaps were created as the production and the customers were at different places?
- Large geographical distance - place gap
- Long delivery times - time gap
- assortment gap
what is the link between manufacturers and customers?
- the marketing Channel
2. the channel of distribution
what is a marketing channel?
a set of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for the user consumption
what is distribution?
distribution includes the whole process in which products are sold and transferred to customers
what is physical distribution?
physical distribution are activities related to making a product physically available to customers.
what is the task of distribution?
To bridge the gap between production and consumption by creating three types of utilities
- time utility
- place utility
- form utility
what different types of flow are there?
- physical flow
—> the product’s path from production to consumption - Information flow
—> technical
—> commercial
—> administrative - ownership
- financial
what different types of channels are there?
- Direct sales
—> sales goes direct from producer to the customer - Indirect sales
—> Sales goes through one or many middlemen, e.g. resellers or distributors
What is the advantage with a middle man?
The number of transactions are reduced
What is the function of a middle man for the producer?
- market coverage
- sales contact
- inventory
- order management
- marketing information
- customer support
- light assembly
What is the function of a middle ma for the customer?
- availability
- assortment
- suitable order quantity
- technical support
- financial solutions
- service
what are the steps to create value through direct channels?
- create value merchants
- design logistics system
- deploy value merchants
What are the steps to strengthen reseller performance?
- build marketplace equity
- craft reseller value proposition
- construct channel offering
What can a company do to improve distribution?
- Create value through direct channels
- Strengthen reseller performance
- Design superior value-adding marketing channels
when should direct sales be used?
- large and well defined customers
- customers require direct sales
- negotiation on top level is required
- feedback from customers are important
- producer needs to be part of the implementation of the product
- customized solutions
- complex products that require extensive product knowledge
when could indirect sales be used?
- Fragmented customer structure with many small customers
- need of assortment
- fast deliveries are required
What is total customer experience? (TCE)
- TCE includes all aspects of a customer’s interactions with a supplier
- TCE with regards o fulfillment and augmented value-added services
—> the efficient low-cost transactional experience
—> the high-touch consultative experience
—> the flexible multi-access-point experience
—> the one-stop shopping experience