- The material distribution structure that moves a product from the manufacturer to the consumer or user
- The marketing structure that, as a part of the distribution channel, ensures the achievement of marketing bjectives
The principal tasks of a marketing channel are:
- Communicating
- Selling
- Shipping and storing
- Providing products and customer service
Marketing communications include advertising, promotional literature, trade promotions, mail, telephone campaigns, product training, and any vehicle of marketing information. The communications loop in a marketing channel can include following up on complaints or billing for marketing communication. To be of value, all communications should be timely and accurate, for the success or failure of marketing channels depends upon the uninterrupted flow of information. Channel communications are two-way systems, with information flowing from the marketer to the consumer and back from the consumer.
Selling
The task of selling involves the act of transferring product titles from one channel member to another. This may require a series of intermediaries such as wholesalers, brokers, agents, and retailers before the final act of transferring the product to the consumer is completed. Though selling is one of the principal tasks of a marketing channel, it may be an independent function in the corporate structure and considered separate from marketing. However, the transfer of titles remains a part of marketing-channel management regardless of the sales people or marketing people handling the responsibilities.
Shipping and Storing
The choice of intermediaries depends on their abilities to collect, stockpile, and distribute products. Physical distribution can be performed by facilitating agencies, such as public warehouses and freight carriers, at one or more levels in the channel of distribution. Shipping and storing products takes place at every level of the channel before the products reach users.
Customer Services
The role customer services plays can vary from product to product or from one business organization to another. Customer services include the tasks performed to inform, teach, comply with legal requirements, and provide facilitating services. Direct product services and technical advice can also be counted as customer services. Some companies consider customer services to be a part of the product itself.
A marketing channel is much more than a simple conduit for consumer goods; it includes every facet of a business. From communicating a product’s concept to providing guarantees of the product’s value or usefulness to consumers, the marketing channel is the backbone of marketing activities.
