Chapter 10: Wholesaling and Product Movement
Chapter Summary:
In this chapter, we first examine another reselling group - wholesalers - and see how they come into play when a marketer attempts to reach the final customer. We show wholesalers exist in many formats, affect a wide range of industries, and offer different sets of features and benefits depending on the markets they serve. In the second half of the chapter, we examine the tasks that must be carried out in order to physically move products to customers. In some cases, the marketer will take on the responsibility of carrying out some functions, while other tasks may be assigned to distribution service providers. Whether handled by the marketer or contracted to others, these functions are crucial to having a cost-effective and efficient distribution system. It is worth noting that while most product movement is concerned with moving tangible products, some of the issues covered here are also applicable to intangible products, such as services, and to digital products.
Key Issues:
- What is Wholesaling?
- Benefits of Wholesalers
- Ways to Categorize Wholesalers
- Wholesale Formats
- Managing Product Movement
- Ordering and Inventory Management
- Transportation
- Product Storage
Links to Cited References:
(note: Some links may no longer be active, if this is the case check Accessing Marketing Stories for hints on accessing.)
- “2007 Economic Census,” United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/econ/census07/
- Wholesale Central website. http://www.wholesalecentral.com/
- “What Is a Wholesale Electricity Market?” Electric Power Supply Association. http://www.epsa.org/industry/primer/?fa=wholesaleMarket
- Merchandise Mart Properties website. http://www.merchandisemartproperties.com
- Demery, P., “Goods to Go,” Internet Retailer, September 1, 2010. http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/09/01/goods-go
- Stambor, Z., “Wholesaling 2.0,” Internet Retailer, March 31, 2010. http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/03/31/wholesaling-2-0
- Christ, P., “Patenting Marketing Methods: A Missing Topic in the Classroom,” Journal of Marketing Education, 27 (1), 2005.
- “Order Management,” Internet Retailer, July 2010. http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/07/01/order-management
- Petrecca, L., “New Sales Outlets Are a Big Deal for Small Businesses,” USA Today, October 26, 2010. http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/2010-10-15-growing-by-finding-new-sales-outlets_N.htm
- Fowler, G. A., “Retailers Team Up Against Amazon, Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2010. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703843804575534062509989530.html
- Review of Maritime Transport 2010, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, June 2011. http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2010_en.pdf
- 2007 Commodity Flow Survey, Bureau of Transportation Statistics - U.S. Department of Transportation. http://www.bts.gov/publications/commodity_flow_survey/preliminary_tables_december_2008/html/table_01.html
- Demery, P., "Peapod Keeps On Truckin," Internet Retailer, March 31, 2011. http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/03/31/web-grocer-peapod-gains-traction
- Kesmodel, D., “After 181 Years, Local Beer Stops Playing Hard to Get,” Wall Street Journal, October 21, 2010. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303496104575560670493092344.html