Article Overview: (30%) In this chapter, the authors focus on how technology firms manage complexities of distribution channels and supply chains to successfully deliver products in high-tech market. The authors claim that effective managing distribution helps the firms to reduce redundancies and inefficiencies in their production system. Consequently, the firms can improve their alliances’ relationships (i.e., customers, suppliers, manufacturers and distributors) that increase customer satisfaction and cost advantage. However, if firms have ineffective channel strategies, conflicts between firms and their alliances can be occurred. Because they usually have different goals, they think that they cannot solve the conflicts by common solutions. This situation will influence the firms to have failures in product delivery. In distribution channels, the authors introduce distribution channel strategy which consists of Channel Structure, Management and Performance. Channel structure describes how firms can convey products to end-users. There are two types which are direct and indirect channels. Direct channel means that firms which are manufacturers sell their products directly to customers (e.g., sale on own company stores or companies’ websites) without any intermediaries. However, indirect channel is the way that firms sell through intermediaries in order to deliver products into markets. In addition, the authors suggest that firms can apply both direct and indirect channels which are called “Hybrid or Multi channel” (e.g., franchises, cooperatives) in order to increase the success of product delivery to the markets. In channel management, the authors explain how firms manage hybrid channels to reduce conflicts and to encourage ... ... middle of paper ... ...oduct development, firms not only have to analyze customer demands to develop new products, but they also need to research customer behaviors in each market to identify segmentations. If firms do not have good distribution plans, they will not succeed in new product delivery even those products can match customer needs. In addition, firms can create channel combinations (i.e. hybrid channels) to optimize delivery costs and to meet customer demands in various segmentations. However, firms should be aware of gray markets which can make issues about price differentiation. For instance, most customers will buy products from unauthorized resellers rather than through authorized dealers because of cheaper prices. This situation will harm relationships between manufacturers and authorized dealers. As a result, firms cannot successfully deliver new products to the markets.
...are unavoidable obstacles in the establishment of a good channel relationship in the franchising system, however, if TCBY’s senior management accept and implement our recommendations, hopefully it will help TCBY to survive from the early 1990s crisis and achieve their strategic objectives in future.
Leveraging multi-channel customer management may also strengthen the link between product type and retail type (Verhoef et al 2007), which is one of the JB Hi-Fi’s identified weaknesses. JB Hi-Fi’s
Over the years role of supply chain has been altered. The distribution has switched from shipping from one focal point, now technology has shortened the process that will to ship directly from the manufacture to the customer that will tie in to the distribution channels. Though distribution is costly, a person would think all the risk will be eliminated. Contrarily to what people may think, distribution have many risk it must account. When the product is unloaded onto the truck, it’s the trucker sole responsibility to ensure the customer receive their product. Distribution initially start at beginning when it is
A new comer to the industry would face difficulty in assessing distribution channels. The major brands already control the main distribution channels, such as big supermarkets, gas stations, and restaurants. They have low costs, competitive pricing, and strong business relationships.
There are two fundamental sorts of supply chains today and they are called business-to-business supply ties and business to shopper supply chains. Business-to-Business supply fastens will be alluded to as B2B, and Business to Consumer as B2C in this paper. The real contrast in the middle of B2B and B2C supply chains is the measure of channels that an item goes through before coming to the end client. B2B supply chains have less channels generally and are bigger in size though B2C supply chains have a bigger measure of littler channels
Distribution channels for when, how and where an organisation’s products are distributed to their consumers. [REFERENCE] The organisation needs to carefully place where they want to distribute their products. For instance, they may have an expensive handbag, so they it would make sense to place it in upmarket department stores and boutiques so that the product is seen as being more exclusive and it also makes it more difficult to obtain if they aren’t available everywhere. [REF] However, if the product is seen as too difficult to obtain, it could affect the overall opinion of the product, which could result in less sales as consumers in developing countries would not consider it a necessary purchase so may choose to go without it.
The company can improve its channel strategy to enhance its current performance in one way. The company’s website is too reliant in the physical stores. The website has photos of the physical store ostensibly to help customers to connect with it. This idea seems well founded. However, the target market for any company that operates an online shopping system is not local. It transcends geographical boundaries. The company needs to consider how it can make the online shopping experience authentic and complete for customers who may never visit any of its physical stores. A website makes a company a global player. In this regard, the company needs to expand its channel strategy to take into account an expanded potential market. This shift in strategy will increase the sales the company makes.
2. Mr. Babasab Patil their paper title “Study to assess the effectiveness of distribution channel of Coca cola co. at Belgaum city”: Distribution Channel plays a very important role especially with respect to the soft drink industry because if the product is not available on time the consumer will switch on to other brands and the company will loosen its market share and hence an effective distribution channel is the need of this industry.
However, as already mentioned for the sake of this thesis the author will exclusively focus on wholesale. Of course, the remaining channels cannot be considered less im-portant but will not be part of this investigation. Hence, the following section will elabo-rate on wholesale business before the authors will then provide some further insight into sales management.
Strong distribution network should be made in order to ensure accessibility of the product. Various factors should also be kept in mind while designing a distribution strategy which includes the shelf life of the product, its characteristics and location of the store where the product is available. Strong relations with retailer are to be made because as discussed earlier retailer is the one who influences the buying decisions the most.
A distribution channel involves the distributors, wholesalers, retailers, salesmen and all other intermediaries. Distribution channels on the basis of number of intermediaries is of following types:-
Channel partners add some value to the merchant customers. Selling software through the indirect sales efforts of channel partners was a fairly common form of a channel extension used in many software’s industries. Moreover, channel partnership was common at SAP and represented a significant focus of the SAP selling model. For these reasons pandesic also used channel
To what extent does the organisation use multiple channels to deliver sources of value (can be product/service related, process related or communication related) to its customers?
Consumers can purchase the goods through diverse channels and this will raise consciousness in the customers’ mind and make the loyalty. The higher the channel, the lower the price, it is going to occur all kinds of customers. Thus, enterprises have to consider their distribution channel architecture. They need to decide that channel must be applied an identical to their brand
‘Supply chain management integrates supply and demand management within and across companies. It encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, thir- party service providers, and customers’. (Web: Council for Supply Chain Management Pr...