Target Market
According to the Director of Distribution, Bill Ferrell, “Chocoberry has never previously offered retail chocolate products for consumers”, because of that I recommend the company to use a distributor as the best option at this point of the process, since the company is able to reach the target market and access all the market desired, without the logistics issues, costs, and decreasing the trade risks. The disadvantage of using distributors is that Chocoberry may not know who is buying the healthy chocolate bar; consequently it cannot establish relationship with them. Another risk of using distributors is that the product might be advertised and priced in a way that is not advantageous for Chocoberry, causing reaching the wrong target market and losing market share.
To find the best distribution option for the new product, as a consultant hired by Chocoberry, I must analyze some factors in order to propose the best options.
Nature of the product
- Is it a complex product? Is it required special storage? What type of product? It is important to analyze the product itself, for example, if the bar goods products is perishable, it will need the shortest and most direct distribution channel. In this case, less intermediaries is best.
Customer
- How are the customers? How much do they buy? Knowing the type of customer, understand their needs, and know where they are willing to buy the new product, are important information to chose the best way to distribute the product. The distribution reflects the end user’s buying habits. Individual consumers have different needs and buying habits than B2B customers.
Market
- Is it geographically spread? How are and where is the competition? What distribution channel the competition uses? Bigger the city, easier to sell direct to the consumer, on the other hand, more wide spread the stores more intermediaries needed.
Business
- What is the size of the company? What are the marketing objectives of Chocoberry? I would
To find the best distribution option for the new product, as a consultant hired by Chocoberry, I must analyze some factors in order to propose the best options.
Nature of the product
- Is it a complex product? Is it required special storage? What type of product? It is important to analyze the product itself, for example, if the bar goods products is perishable, it will need the shortest and most direct distribution channel. In this case, less intermediaries is best.
Customer
- How are the customers? How much do they buy? Knowing the type of customer, understand their needs, and know where they are willing to buy the new product, are important information to chose the best way to distribute the product. The distribution reflects the end user’s buying habits. Individual consumers have different needs and buying habits than B2B customers.
Market
- Is it geographically spread? How are and where is the competition? What distribution channel the competition uses? Bigger the city, easier to sell direct to the consumer, on the other hand, more wide spread the stores more intermediaries needed.
Business
- What is the size of the company? What are the marketing objectives of Chocoberry? I would
References: Business Dictionary (n.d.). Retrieved June 2012, From http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/distribution-intensity.html Crawford, M., & Di Benedetto, A. (2010). New Product Management. New York, NY: Paul Ducham. Farris, P. [et al.]. (2010). Marketing metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Tim Moore. N.d. (n.d). Tutor2U – Marketing Distribution Channels. Retrieved June 2012 from http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/marketing_distribution_channels.html