Question

In contrast to organizational goods, consumer products are often distributed through _____ channels.

Answer 1

Consumer products are usually distributed through four main channels:

• producer ⇒ consumer: the producer directly distributes its products to its final consumers, online sales helped to increase this type of sales.
• producer ⇒ retailer ⇒ consumer: some retailers are large enough to be able to buy in bulk directly from the producers, e.g. Walmart, Target.
• producer ⇒ wholesaler ⇒retailer ⇒ consumer: wholesaler buys in bulk from the producer, then distributes to the retailer who finally sells to the customers.
• producer ⇒ agent ⇒ wholesaler ⇒retailer ⇒ consumer: similar to the previous channel only that an independent sales agent performs the sales from the producer to the wholesaler.