Why Companies Use Marketing Channels

Although retailers such as Walmart and Target do have loyal customer bases, they are not sitting idle as Amazon and other eCommerce firms obtain a greater market share. They are expanding their online profiles and offering similar shopping experiences. However, they hold one major advantage over Amazon. Every store can serve as a distribution center. Walmart is a perfect example. It has expanded its online profile to provide eCommerce services to its customers (Thau, 2014). Because every store serves as a distribution center, customers can receive their order much faster than Amazon can deliver it.

2) Explain the role of channel intermediaries in the product distribution process. Why is their role important?

Amazon.com was founded as an online bookstore in July, 1995 and went public in May 1997. In June, 1998 Amazon.com launched its music store. Since then Amazon.com has become the most prominent Internet retailer. Over time Amazon.com has added several products including electronics, health and beauty products, house wares, kitchenware’s, music, tools, toys, videos, and several services such as auctions, 1-Click ordering, and zShops. Amazon.com has expanded nationally and internationally and now operates several customer service and distribution centers in the United States and international web sites that

Distribution channels are organized in several ways: conventional, vertical, horizontal and multichannel (Kern R. 2013). Some of these organizational methods are more structured than others. When a distribution channel deals with more than one independent producer, such as wholesalers and retailers, the channel is known as a conventional distribution channel. (Kern R. 2013) These channels are not normally known to be strong and typically don’t give the customer the quality of product that they deserve. In a vertical marketing system, the retailers, wholesalers and producers, join forces to create a unified front, promoting an individual product (Kern R. 2013). Vertical distribution channels are stronger than the conventional distribution channels because all of the companies involved carry some of the load of power. (Kern R. 2013) In a horizontal distribution channel, companies join up and combine all of their finances and resources, in order to take on more than one company or product (Kern R. 2013). A multichannel distribution channel is where a large corporation uses two or more marketing channels to better target their desired customer segments (Kern R.

Different retailing businesses have very different distribution methods based on the types of product that they sell, some arguably more effectively than others.

vs. exclusive – Giving a limited number of dealers the exclusive right to distribute the

Another component of an effective marketing plan is a distribution channel analysis. The path a product or service takes to reach the end consumer is referred to as a distribution channel, which can include wholesalers, retailers, distributors and the internet (Distribution Channel, 2013). A distribution channel analysis aids in the creation of a distribution strategy which will convey the company’s plan regarding the distribution of its products, determining whether to use a push or a pull strategy, and how that strategy fits the product, the target market, and overall marketing

Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer that was launched in 1995 (Rouse, 2014). Amazon was mainly a book selling company that has enlarged its’ business by selling a variety of goods. The company sells all types of technology devices such as cell phones, games, televisions, movies, cameras, computers,

Amazon focuses on global reach, putting customer first,, and extensive selection of products through its vision which is “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online” (Gregory 2016).

Neil Irwin of The New York Times writes of Amazon: “The online retailer is on a collision course with Walmart to try to be the predominant seller of pretty much everything you buy. Each one is trying to become more like the other — Walmart by investing heavily in technology, Amazon by opening physical bookstores and now buying physical supermarkets.” Something similar, says Irwin, is happening in “nearly every major industry,” benefiting “the biggest and best-run organizations, to the detriment of upstarts and second-fiddle players.”

Any product or service in the marketplace utilizes distribution channels to reach its customers. Although the manufacturers and services providers can and do provide their goods and services directly, utilizing distribution channels multiplies the number of goods and services that reach the marketplace (Advameg, Inc, 2011). Therefore, distribution channels can increase market share and profit margins since these distribution channels help the company’s product reach its target segments and enter into new marketplaces (Advameg, Inc., 2011). As they enter into new regions, stores, and the like, manufacturers and service providers can capitalize on these channels and markets by cultivating

An effective supply chain strategy makes the company is able to respond high level of responsiveness. Amazon balances between cost of distributions

Channel intermediaries are firms or individuals such as wholesalers, agents, brokers, or retailers who help move a product from the producer to the consumer or business user.

Amazon operates using a web-based platform to sell books.  The web-based model targets a global market, has reduced overhead costs and a shorter operating cycle as compared to brick and mortar businesses such as Barnes & Noble and Borders. Amazon’s online model has a superior inventory

Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon.com), incorporated on May 28, 1996, is an American electronic commerce company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington and is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States (Ungar, 2014). Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified, selling DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, video downloads/ streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys and jewelry (Ungar, 2014). The company also produces consumer electronics—notably, Amazon Kindle e-book readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV and Fire Phone — and is a major provider of cloud computing services (Ungar, 2014).