Place Element of the Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix: Also known as the 4Ps - product, price, place, and promotion. The ‘place’ aspect relates to where and how the business’s product or service is distributed.
Distribution Channels: These are the routes a product takes from the producer to the consumer. They can be direct, such as selling straight to the consumer, or indirect, involving intermediaries like wholesalers or retailers.
Retail Location: This pertains to where a store is situated. Factors considered include footfall, accessibility, cost, local competition, and the target market’s demographics.
E-commerce: This refers to the buying and selling of goods or services over the internet. It allows businesses to widen their distribution and reach out to a global market.
Market Coverage: Highlights how and where a company places its products for purchase by consumers. The main strategies are intensive, selective, and exclusive distribution.

Market Intermediaries

Wholesalers: This group purchases goods in bulk from manufacturers and sells them in smaller quantities to retailers. They are an essential part of many indirect distribution channels.
Retailers: These are businesses that sell products directly to consumers. They are the endpoint in the distribution process and play a pivotal role in product placement.
Agents and Brokers: They act as a link between manufacturers and retailers. They help in the distribution process but don’t take ownership of the goods. Their main job is to facilitate the transaction.

Logistics: Involves planning, implementing, and controlling the effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and information between the point of origin and the point of destination.
Supply Chain Management (SCM): The management of the flow of goods and services, including all processes that transform raw materials into final products.
Inventory Management: Keeping track of all products a company has on hand. Effective inventory management makes sure that goods are always available for sale, which is crucial for maintaining a positive cash flow.

E-commerce Platforms: Online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay are commonly used channels for product distribution.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): This enables a standardised electronic way of transferring business documents. Used primarily by retailers and suppliers to link systems for handling orders, deliveries, and payments.
Just-in-Time (JIT): An inventory management principle aimed at reducing in-process inventory and associated carrying costs. Ordering and receiving inventory for production and customer sales only as it is needed to produce goods, reducing warehouse storage costs.