Significance of distribution channels in marketing | MIT School of Distance Education
                     MIT School of Distance Education
Significance of distribution channels in 
marketing
 One of the most imperative components of marketing 
management is the distribution channel. A distribution channel 
refers to market intermediaries that are involved in the 
process of transfer of the goods from the producers to the 
consumers/end customers. The market intermediaries include 
wholesalers, distributors, authorized dealers, retailers, internet 
and franchise dealers.
 An effective distribution channel is crucial for proper supply of 
goods and for minimizing the gap between the producer & 
consumer. It tends to create time, place and possession utility 
of a product. As the industries and markets are growing 
rapidly, distribution is becoming more complex, so there is a 
high demand for the effective distribution channel.
 Let’s find out various roles that a distribution channel plays in 
marketing:
It assists in stock holding
 Various market intermediaries involved in a distribution 
channel perform different functions like financing, risk 
bearing, product storage, etc. These help in effectual 
handling of the inventories.
It provides products in required assortments
 Every market intermediary has its own proficiency. For 
example, the task of a producer lies in 
manufacturing/creating products, the wholesaler purchases 
those products in bulk and sells them in lesser quantities to 
the retailers while retailer expertise in selling products to end 
users. Due to the availability of an improved distribution 
channel, the products become easily available to the 
customers in their nearby stores. Thus, these intermediaries 
help in fulfilling the demand of the customers.
It assists in executing price mechanism 
between firm and customers
 Due to the presence of a distribution channel, the price of a 
product increases as it has to pass through various 
intermediaries. These intermediaries help to reach that price 
level where a producer is ready to manufacture a product 
and a consumer is ready to purchase the product.
They assist in product merchandising
 Product merchandising plays a significant role in increasing 
the demand for a product. Merchandising is executed by the 
market intermediaries at a retail store to facilitate the 
movement of a product from the store to the customer. It 
basically involves an attractive display of a newly launched 
product to grasp the attention of potential customers. There 
are various other merchandising activities that help in 
effective selling of products in the store.
It offers salesmanship
 A distribution channel not only involves wholesalers and 
retailers, but it also includes sales agents. The sales agents 
are sent directly by the companies to offer pre-sale and post-
sale services to the customers. Through their salesmanship 
and direct customer contact, they can send true feedback to 
the producers about their newly launched products. In this 
way, they can improvise their upcoming products to improve 
their sales.
 Thus Significance of Distribution Channels in Marketing is 
more. Clearly, distribution channel is the backbone of 
marketing. Thus, every marketing manager must know 
how to effectively communicate with intermediaries to 
ensure effective marketing as well as the sale of products. 
At MIT School of Distance Education (MIT-SDE), we just 
don’t impart field-specific knowledge, but we also 
emphasize on imparting value-added skills in the 
candidates. 
 We organize personality development sessions to ensure 
that future managers are effective communicators. We 
offer 
distance MBA equivalent course in Marketing Management 
to train the future marketers and entrepreneurs. Our 
course is up-to-date according to industry trends. So it is 
totally apt to capture the opportunities. When looking for 
the best in class correspondence MBA course, MIT-SDE 
should be your first and only option.
        
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