Marketing Management, 16th Edition

The Role of Distribution Channels

Most producers do not sell their goods directly to the final users; between them stand a set of intermediaries performing a variety of functions. These intermediaries constitute a marketing channel (also called a trade channel or distribution channel). Distribution channels are sets of interdependent organizations participating in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption. They are the set of pathways a product or service follows after production, culminating in purchase and consumption by the final end user.2

Some intermediaries—such as wholesalers and retailers—buy, take title to, and resell the merchandise; these intermediaries are called merchants. Others—brokers, manufacturers’ ...