Place
From WikiTextbook
It is important for the business to have the goods available in the right place when the customer wants to buy them. If it fails to have the products in stock its customers will go to one of its competitors.
The place where customers are able to buy goods and services is known as the point of sale. Place refers to both this point of sale and how the goods reach it. Goods are not normally bought from where they are manufactured, this means that they have to get to the consumer. This will usually occur in one of three ways:
• Delivered directly to the customer or sold through a factory outlet;
• A large retailer will buy the goods directly from the manufacturer and sell it on to the customer;
• The manufacturer will sell in bulk to a wholesaler who breaks up the good into smaller packages to sell onto small retailers who in turn sell to the consumers.
These routes can be summarized in the diagram below:
It is also possible for a business to use personal selling or direct mailing:
• Personal selling - This involves the use of sales representatives calling from door to door or on the telephone in the hope of convincing the customer to buy the product.
• Direct mailing - Information is sent through the post or via e-mail to groups of consumers who the company think will buy their product or service. Some companies will, for a fee, provide lists of people with particular characteristics.
Which ever method of distribution the manufacturer chooses it is important that customers can easily obtain the product. If not, then they will not buy, but will go to a competitor who provides a more convenient way of getting the product.
