Costs and Margins in the Marketing Sales Channel

Marketing channels ensure smooth movement of products from the com­pany to the customers. This movement of products can be forward, back­ward or two-directional. Different activities performed by the channel members are possession of goods, ownership (transfer of title), inventory management, promotion, negotiation, financing, risk bearing, ordering, payment and physical distribution. Different channel members perform

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Setting Up Cooperative Programs

To implement its overall marketing strategy, the manufacturer needs the cooperation of its distributive outlets. In consumer-goods markets, for instance, retailers must have adequate stocks of a product on hand prior to the launching of national consumer advertising campaigns. Retailers must provide support through tie-in displays and local advertising. Manufacturers of industrial goods look

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Role of Manufacturer’s Sales Force

Channel partners regard the manufacturer’s salespeople not only as sales representatives for the product line, but also as instruments through which the manufacturer’s business philosophy is implemented. Their opinions of the company and its products are influenced by the conduct of its sales personnel. Salespeople need not be public relations experts, but they need

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Objectives and Methods of Manufacturer-Channel Partners’ Cooperation

The manufacturer and its channel partners share a common objective—to sell the manufacturer’s products at a profit. To achieve this objective, man­ufacturers set more specific objectives. These objectives, of course, differ with the marketing circumstances, even though many variations of specific objectives fit into definite categories. Manufacturers undertake cooperative programs (1) to build distributive

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Distributive Network Changes and Maintaining Relations

The evolution of new types of distributive outlets has been a recurring phenomenon. Over the years, many new marketing institutions have appeared and grown in importance—online retailers, department stores, corporate chains, cooperative and voluntary chains, producers’ and con­sumers’ cooperatives, supermarkets, and discount department stores, to name but a few. Older, better established types of

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Managing the Channel Conflict

With the advent of e-commerce, winning and preserving the relationship with the channel partners has become a more challenging task for the mar­keters. Most of the companies are using multi-channel strategies to market their products. According to Darrell Rigby, retailing is quickly morphing into omnichannel retailing.1 Omnichannel retailing means that retailers can interact with

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Advantages of Channel Information System

A channel information system is a valuable decision support system in the channel management. Channel information system has many advantages: Effective Decision Making. A good CIS will have accurate data about different activities in the channel management. This data can be related to total sales, product sales, selling expenses in the different sales ter­ritories

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Stages of Channel Information System

A Channel Information System provides information about the day-to-day sales of products, SKU-wise sales, information about the transactions by different channel partners, and about inventory levels. The main purpose of CIS is to improve decision making by providing appropriate information and reducing uncertainty. Figure 23.1 show the stages of CIS. Collection. Collection of cross-channel

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Elements of Channel Information System

Data of Channel Partners. Channel information system contains com­plete information about the profiles of channel members such as address, bank account, sales turnover, number of salespersons, infrastructure, facil­ities offered, financial strength, legal approvals, and taxation numbers, etc. CIS also comprises information about the channel member’s history of orders, payment schedules,and product sales. It also

Designing Channel Information System

CIS is an integrated information system to handle data in the channel management. It should be user centric and user friendly. The designing of a channel information system begin with an identification of the strategic, managerial, and overall channel objectives. It is critical to define the rela­tionships among decisions and to decide the flow

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Evaluation of Channel Performance

Evaluating channel information system effectiveness is one of the significant outcome for the success of CIS. More and more companies are adopting multiple channels of distribution. Hence, sales managers need metrics that can help them to assess the performance of each sales channel, as well as the inter-relationships among the various sales channels adopted

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Understanding Logistics in Sales Management

Logistics is adding “place utility” to a product. For example, a product needs to be transferred from a Mumbai to another location say Delhi. This product could be raw material for the manufacturing facility, or the finished product from the manufacturing facility for distribution in the market. The management of raw materials usually comes

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Elements of Sales Logistics Management

The objective of logistics management is to facilitate an efficient trans­portation or timely movement of products from one place to another with optimum inventory level consistent with customer service goals at lowest possible total logistics cost. The Council of Logistics Management (1998) defines logistics as, “the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient,

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Sales Supply Chain Management

The supply chain management aims to intensify the processes that take place from the level of the suppliers of raw materials to that of the end customers. The aim is to add value and to increase the use of resources and improve cost efficiency by transporting the required product at the desig­nated time. The

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Marketing and Logistics in Sales Management

The “mantra” of marketing to have the right product in the right place at the right time has increased the importance of logistics and supply chain in the domain of marketing and distribution management. Logistics and marketing are referred to as key management orientations in a company and interpreted as the functional and integrated

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International Marketing in Sales Management

An international market is a market outside the territorial boundaries of a company’s domestic market. International marketing denotes marketing activities that are co-ordinated and integrated across multiple domestic markets.[1] International markets are being homogenized by advances in communication and transportation technology, and customers in the dis­tant parts of the world tend to display similar

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Selecting an International Sales Market

Selecting a global market for expansion is a crucial strategic decision as successful international marketing rests on factors like product fit, leverage, and opportunity. There is a famous marketing adage about Bata’s entry inthe African markets. It is said that when Africa was opening up as a market, many shoe manufacturing companies sent their

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International Sales Orientations

Different companies follow different management approaches in interna­tional marketing. Usually companies follow ethnocentric, polycentric, or geocentric approaches of management for doing business in international markets. An ethnocentric approach consolidates control at company head­quarters. Most of the strategic decisions are made in the home country, and expatriates from the countries of origin hold key posts

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The Mode of Entry in Sales Management

The mode of entry in the international market is an important decision with large and long-term implications for an organization. Different com­panies use different modes of entries while going for international expan­sion. The different modes of entry are indirect exporting, direct exporting, licensing/ franchising, joint ventures, and direct investment. An organiza­tion’s commitment, risk, control,

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Selection of International Distribution Partners in Sales Management

It is important to understand that channel partners are executors of mar­keting strategy. Companies starting their businesses in a foreign country need to start their business from scratch. As most of the markets are regu­lated and controlled by networks of domestic channel intermediaries, so it is essential for a company to collaborate with domestic

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