Place
Place is often ignored by students as one of the 4P’s, but it is vital to a products success, and under-pins the rest of the marketing mix.
The ‘place’ decision means making the product or service available to consumers in the most appropriate way. i.e. the most convenient or the least costly. This means addressing three key issues.
· What are the best outlets for my firms products to reach consumers?
· Will these outlets want to stock my firm’s products?
· What is the best channel to get the product to the final consumer?
What are the best outlets?
All firms have a range of possible places to sell their product. The number of outlets reached may be most important to some firms, whereas the quality of the outlet may be more important to others. For example do you see Prada shops on every corner? No, you do not! Why? It would damage the style and exclusivity of the brand. The relatively small number of outlets allowed to sell top name brands are carefully picked to ensure they have the right image. Look at the brands in 101 next time you are there! Contrast this with Coke, who need their product on sale in as many different outlets as possible, in order to maximise their market share. It will depend upon the firm’s overall marketing objectives.
Will my products be stocked?
Something that is often totally ignored by students. Think about this…Why would a shop want to stock your product? If it does then it means that something else can not be stocked, they only have a limited amount of space (There is an opportunity cost of stocking your product.). This decision is usually based on sales (or profit) per square metre. How much they sell compared to the amount of expensive shop space it takes up. Clearly, market leaders or those with a strong brand image are going to be the ones they want to stock. A big promotional campaign may help too, as it will get consumers asking for the product by name.
What are the best channels of distribution?
Firstly, do not confuse this with methods of transport. Channels of distribution is concerned with the intermediaries you use to get the product to the customer. The right one will depend upon the geographical spread of customers, the wider the spread, then the more intermediaries will probably be used. Getting the goods to the customer becomes someone else’s problem. How much need is there that you keep control of the product or need to ensure the quality of service? How easy it will be selling over the internet? (see here)