Channels of Distribution

Once you have selected and developed a unique product or business idea, correctly positioned and targeted it to buyers, and developed your packaging and pricing, the selection of distribution channels and sales representation is key to successful marketing. It's fairly easy to change many of your marketing tactics and strategies on a periodic basis; pricing, packaging, and product mix are among these flexible choices. However, distribution and sales decisions, once made, are much more difficult …

…and risks ("How much money do we have to risk against our objectives and marketing programs?") *competitors' strengths and market share ("Are they big enough and mean enough to hurt us, and what are their objectives?") *management experience by channel ("What do we know about each channel's opportunities and threats?") *product positioning to target buyers ("Will the strengths of our product uniqueness help sell it to interested buyers and can we communicate our uniqueness effectively?")