Business Essentials, 12/e

Summary of Learning Objectives

Objective 13-1

1. Explain the meaning of distribution mix and identify the different channels of distribution.

The success of any product depends on its distribution mix: the combination of distribution channels for getting products to end users—consumers and industrial buyers. Intermediaries help to distribute a producer’s goods by moving them to customers: Wholesalers sell products to other businesses, which resell them to final users. Retailers, on the other hand, sell products directly to end users. In the simplest of four distribution channels—the direct channel—the producer sells directly to the consumer or organizational buyer without intermediaries. In retail distribution, producers distribute products ...