Chapter 14

Vertical Marketing System (VMS)

a centrally managed distribution channel resulting from vertical channel integration

Middeman (or marketing intermediary)

a marketing organization that links a producer and user within a marketing channel

Retailer

a middleman that buys from producers or other middlemen and sells to consumers

Functional middleman

a middleman that helps in the transfer of ownership of products but does not take title to the products

Wholesaler

a middleman that sells products to other firms

Merchant middle man

a middleman tht actually takes title to products by buying them

Channel of Distribution

a sequence of marketing organizations that directs a product from the producerto the ultimate user

Supply-chain Management

long-term partnership among channel members working together to create a distribution system that reduces inefficiencies, costs, and redundancies, while creating a competitive advantage and satisfying customers

Full-service wholesaler

middleman that performs the entire range of wholesaler functions

Merchant Wholesaler

middleman that purchases goods in large quantities and then sells them to other wholesalers or retailers and to institutional, farm, government, professional, or industrial users

Vertical channel integration

the combining of two or more stages of a distribution channel under single firm's management

Intensive Distribution

the use of all available outlets for a product

Selective Distribution

the use of only a portion of the available outlets for a product in each geographic area

Exclusive Distribution

the use of only a single retail outlet for a product in a large geographic area