Marketing logistics in context of marketing is the physical flow of final goods from manufacturer to the final consumer. It involves activities of handling and moving goods.
What are functions of middlemen?
Functions of middlemen are:
1. Assembling: Middlemen collect variety of products for the customers.
2. Dispersion: Product is supplied further to the next channel member.
3. Financing: Providing goods on credit.
4. Estimating Demand: Estimating demand of the product or service.
5. Warehousing is performed by wholesaler. It involves holding bulk stock.
6. Storing Goods: Intermediary like retailer holds inventory.
7. Transportation: Transporting goods to the further channel member.
8. Grading and Packaging: Sorting the products.
9. Risk Bearing: Bearing the risk of the spoilage, theft fire etc.
10. Service: Wholesalers can provide services to retailers and retailers to consumers.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the consumer cooperative stores?
Consumer cooperative stores are the retail stores owned by the consumers for the mutual benefit by providing goods at lower prices.
Advantages
1. These stores provide quality products and no products is adulterated.
2. Price of the products are low as the products are bought from the manufacturers.
3. Unlike retailers, consumer co-operative stores charge same prices even at the time of shortage.
Disadvantages
1. Consumers come to these stores only in case of shortage.
2. Bureaucratic management at stores.
3. Service quality is low.
4. No profits are earned even after buying from producers.
What is the role of the middlemen? Explain.
A middlemen plays a vital role in the distribution channel. His functions are as follows:
1. Utility Creation: A middlemen helps to create place utility, time utility, form utility and possession utility. He makes the product or service available to the consumers at the right tone, at the right place, more conveniently.
2. Financing: If the producer does not have sufficient funds to perform distribution functions, middlemen provide financial help to the producer.
3. Services: He provides services to the consumers that earn loyal customers like free home delivery, after-sale services etc.
4. Promoting: Middlemen often support promotional activities like display of products in show window etc.
5. Economy in Effort: It’s difficult for the producers to build contact with customers who are widely spread. It’s more economical to establish relationship with a middleman.
6. Convenience to Consumers: Consumers can conveniently look for retailers at their local markets.
7. Provide Field Stock: All the distributors maintain stock levels located in different regions of the country. Retailers can reach them and avail the goods.
8. Provide Feedback: Retailers make contact directly with the consumers. They provide feedback from the customers to the producers.
9. Market Coverage: Middlemen help to cover more markets whereas it difficult for an individual producer to handle all the markets alone.
10. Other Functions like grading, packaging, storing, risk-bearing etc.