10: Marketing Channels: Distribution (Place) and Supply Chain

1. Instructions

In this module, you examined marketing channels and distribution strategy, a part of every brand’s marketing mix. Every brand must make the strategic decision to sell directly, or indirectly via wholesale relationships with retail partners.

In this assignment, you will conduct research to discover the various channels used by your selected brand. You will also evaluate whether the brand is successful in reaching their target customer via the selected channels.

Create a visual presentation, using a visual presentation software, including the following information:

• direct channel: Does the brand sell directly to their customer, via brick-and-mortar retail stores, catalogs, e-commerce websites, mobile apps, or social media? List each direct channel and find visual examples of each direct channel.
• indirect channel: Does the brand sell wholesale to other retail partners, such as department stores, multi-brand e-commerce websites, or independent stores? List each indirect channel and find visuals for three to four indirect channels.
• distribution strategy evaluation: Is the channel strategy appropriate for the brand’s products and target customers, in your opinion? Remember to use terminology from the module and add relevant imagery to demonstrate your opinion.

Module Takeaways: Distribution (Place) and Supply Chain

• Define marketing channels for distributing fashion products and services.
• Marketing channels refer to the ways to deliver products and services to the end customers—in other words, the flow of products and services to be available to consumers.
• Marketing channels (or distribution channels) are made up of a set of independent business organizations (channel members) that help make products available for customers such as intermediaries like wholesalers and retailers. This even includes facilitating organizations such as banks, insurance, and transportation companies that help facilitate the marketing process.
  • Direct marketing (distribution) channels reach to end users (customers) without intermediaries, connecting manufacturer to customer who will buy and use for themselves.
  • Indirect marketing (distribution) channels reach to end users (customers) through various intermediaries such as retailers and wholesalers.
• Fashion companies plan their distribution strategies based on how readily their products and services can be available to their target customers, so the customers can get fashion products and services when they want, where they want, and how they want it. Marketers consider how widely or exclusively to distribute their products and services and how to adopt the following options:
  • exclusive distribution: using one or just a few retailers in a given area
  • selective distribution: used for goods that need explanation or face competition with similar ones
  • intensive distribution: used for relatively inexpensive items that require no explanation
• Different from marketing channels, a supply chain consists of a variety of companies and facilitators engaged in moving materials and goods (not just finished goods) to the next level of partners and intermediaries, and eventually to consumers.
• The flows of goods within the fashion supply chain is complex. Material, service, and products move from the material to production, and eventually to the consumer.
  • Outbound logistics refers to this movement to the consumer.
  • Inbound logistics refers to the movement from supplier to manufacturer.
  • Reverse logistics refers to the movement from customers to the manufacturers such as return or exchange