How do you get somebody to buy your product? By marketing it! Now the question is how does that product get to you customers? This is the place decision, one of the four P’s of the marketing mix.
To make a place decision, marketers must decide on their channel of distribution. The channel of distribution is the path a product takes from its producer or manufacturer to the final user. When the product is purchased for use in a business, the final user is classified as an industrial user. When the product is purchased for personal use, the final user is classified as a consumer.

Key Terms:
Channel of distribution
Intermediaries
Wholesalers
Rack jobbers
Drop shippers
Retailers
Brick-and-mortar retailers
E-tailing
Agents
Direct distribution
Indirect distribution
Physical distribution
Transportation
Common carriers
Contract carriers
Private carriers
Exempt carriers
Ton-mile
Carload


Objectives

*Explain the concept of a channel of distribution
*Identify channel members
*Compare channels of distribution for consumer and industrial products