Page 457 - Foundations of Marketing

424 Part 5 | Distribution Decisions

4. Think about a retail store you shop in regularly, or visit identify the distribution activities performed by the
one in which you would like to shop. Think about and wholesaler. Are any of these activities shared by
describe its atmospherics. Be specific about both exte- both the retailer and the wholesaler? How do these
rior and interior elements, and indicate how the store is activities benefit the retailer? How do they benefit
being positioned through its use of atmospherics. you as a consumer?
5. Contact a local retailer you patronize, and ask the 6. Develop your analytical and communication
store manager to describe the store’s relationship with skills using the Role-Play Exercises online at
one of its wholesalers. Using your text as a guide, www.cengagebrain.com .

Internet Exercise

Walmart
Walmart provides a website where customers can shop 1. How does Walmart attempt to position itself on its
for products, search for a nearby store, and even preor- website?
der new products. The website lets browsers see what is 2. Compare the atmospherics of Walmart’s website to the
on sale and view company information. Access Walmart’s atmospherics of a traditional Walmart store. Are they
retail website at www.walmart.com . consistent? If not, should they be?

Distribution decisions in the marketing plan entail the your target market’s buying behavior. Refer to Table 14.1
movement of your product from the producer to the for types of general merchandise retailers.
final consumer. An understanding of how and where 3. Discuss how the characteristics of the retail establish-
your customer prefers to purchase products is critical to ment, such as location and store image, have an impact
the development of the marketing plan. As you apply the on the consumer’s perception of your product.
information in this chapter to your plan, focus on the 4. Are direct-marketing or direct-selling methods appropri-
following issues: ate for your product and target market?
5. If your product will be sold to another member in the mar-
1. Considering your product’s attributes and your target
keting channel, discuss whether a merchant wholesaler,
market’s (or markets’) buying behavior, will your prod-
agent, or broker is most suitable as your channel customer.
uct likely be sold to the ultimate customer or to another
member of the marketing channel? The information obtained from these questions should
2. If your product will be sold to the ultimate customer, assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing
what type of retailing establishment is most suitable to plan. Develop your marketing plan online using the Interac-
your product? Consider the product’s characteristics and tive Marketing Plan at www.cengagebrain.com .

L.L.Bean: Open 24 / 7 ,Click or Brick

L.L.Bean, based in Freeport, Maine, began life as a one- starting with the now-iconic rubber-soled Bean Boot. Today,
product firm selling by mail in 1912. Founder Leon the catalog business that L.L.Bean began is still going
Leonwood Bean designed and tested every product he sold, strong, along with 30 U.S. stores and a thriving online retail

Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.