The Importance Of Distribution Channels

Getting the product to the market is another link in the marketing mix. Producers or manufactures uses intermediaries to bring their product to the market by developing a marketing channel. Marketing channel are set of independent organizations participating in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption (Kotler & Keller, 2014). Channel intermediaries are firms or wholesalers and retailers who assist in moving the product from the producer to the consumer. The channel that a company uses directly affect other marketing decision. For example, place decision affects pricing. Marketers who distributes through mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart will have different pricing objective and strategies that those that sell in specialty store.

Distribution channel provide a number of logistics or physical distribution functions that increase the efficiency of the flow of goods form producer to customer. Producers have used channel member to add value to its product and service. The purpose of the distribution channel is to; create efficiency by reducing the number of

T-Mobile and Verizon are consider channel member and act as intermediaries between the Manufactures and the customers. They are seen as the Gap. Manufactures recognized that channel members such as T-Mobile and Verizon are already established companies that people know and trust. Additional these manufactures know that they can enjoy greater economies of scale when they use a middle-man to get their product out.

Phone Manufactures also do this because they rely on the expertise of the distributors to advertise and promote their products. Both T-Mobile and Verizon has a large sales force, and are better able to reach more customers and to establish their brand and become market