Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 6th Edition

The marketing and logistics interface

Even though textbooks describe marketing as the management of the ‘Four Ps’ –product, price, promotion and place – it is probably true to say that, in practice, most of the emphasis has always been placed on the first three. ‘Place’, which might better be described in the words of the old cliché, ‘the right product, in the right place at the right time’, was rarely considered part of mainstream marketing.

There are signs that this view is rapidly changing, however, as the power of customer service as a potential means of differentiation is increasingly recognised. In more and more markets the power of the brand has declined and customers are more willing to accept substitutes; even technical differences ...