Marketing 5.01

Channels of distribution

Paths, or routes, that goods or services take from the producer to the ultimate consumer or industrial user

Ultimate consumers

People who personally use a good or service to satisfy their own needs or wants; also known as final consumers

Middlemen

See intermediaries

Consumer goods

Tangible items produced for personal use

Industrial goods

Tangible items that will be consumed by industrial users

Goods

Tangible objects that can be manufactured or produced for resale

Producers

The people who make or provide goods and services

Retailer

A business that buys consumer goods or services and sells them to the ultimate consumer

Industrial user

A business that buys materials, services, or goods that will be used to make other goods or used in the operation of the company

Industrial distributor

A channel member that buys industrial goods and sells them to industrial users

Direct channel of distribution

A channel of distribution in which goods and services move directly from the producer to the consumer or industrial user; also known as direct distribution

Indirect channel of distribution

A channel of distribution in which goods and services move from the producer to intermediaries and then to consumers or industrial users; also known as indirect distribution

Product

A good or service that a company sells to customers

Intermediaries

Channel members operating between the producer and the consumer or industrial user to help in the movement of goods and services; also known as middlemen

Services

Intangible activities that are performed by other people for money; productive acts that satisfy economic wants

Agents

Intermediaries that assist in the sale and/or promotion of goods and services but do not take title to them

Wholesalers

Intermediaries that help move goods between producers and retailers by buying goods from producers and selling them to retailers