Intensive Distribution
Intensive distribution is also referred as the mass distribution strategy, where market offerings are necessarily supplied to all the possible purchase points. Common examples of products distributed under the intensive distribution approach include beverages, brewing brands, cigarettes, chocolates, biscuits and FMCG products like detergents, shampoo, soaps etc. (Mangiaracina et.al, 2012). For instance, Pepsi has employed an intensive market distribution strategy to supply Pepsi Cola at every retailer. This is because the potential buyers of Pepsi are made up of mass audience that could be from any demographical segment, social class, and geographical regions. These buyers tend to purchase a beverage bottle of Pepsi from any purchase point ranging from a gas station to the supermarket or a grocery store. In other words, an intensive distribution approach is suitable for products that have various substitutes available in the market or those products that are functioning in perfect competition. The availability of such product needs to be high and saturated in the market. If not, the customers tend to switch to other substitutes. In simple words, if Pepsi won't be intensively available, the consumer would instantly buy any other beverage with similar attributes (Grant, 2015).
Selective Distribution
The selective distribution approach focuses on ensuring the product availability to a specific geographic location. For example, the market offering of Dolce & Gabbana is selectively distributed by Nieman Marcus only at nominated store locations. Similarly, other brands like Puma, Adidas, and Nike are sold through designated department stores, sports outlets and personalized retail stores (Mangiaracina et.al, 2012). Selective distribution strategy is suitable for the products that enable an organization to sell according to the stipulations and the prerequisite of the product, as well as, the audience. For instance, this type of distribution approach facilitates Nike, Adidas, and Puma to sell different products with respect to the attributes of the market segment such as design preferences, price range and accessibility. Therefore, this type of distribution is suitable for products that are required to be available at selected locations, having a specific target audience and substantial availability of competition in the market (Grant, 2015).
Exclusive Distribution
The exaggerated form of selective distribution is defined as exclusive distribution. In exclusive distribution, business organization opt for limited and elite distribution through one or few defined distributors i.e. wholesalers and retailers. For instance, Zara and Gucci sell only through their exclusively designated distributors. Similarly, Rolls-Royce distributes its offering under the exclusive distribution approach and upholds dealership with only 33 sellers in the United States (Grant, 2015). This type of distribution suits to a product like Rolls-Royce, which is prestigiously reputed in the market with geographically and demographically defined audience i.e. high-end customers residing in posh localities. Thus, exclusive distribution enables an organization to maintain definitive control over business policies, price, and inventory. Furthermore, exclusive distribution encourages benefit of maximum profit as fewer market intermediaries are involved (Mangiaracina et.al, 2012).
References
Grant, R. M. (2015). Contemporary Strategy Analysis 9e Text Only. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved From http://www.homeworkmarket.com/sites/default/files/q5/17/11/strategic_planning_mba_book.pdf on February 22, 2016
Mangiaracina, R., Perego, A., & Song, G. (2012). A quantitative model to support strategic distribution network design. In Proceedings of the 2012 Logistics Research Network Annual Conference (pp. 1-8). Retrieved From http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/eserv/eth:47687/eth-47687-01.pdf on February 22, 2016
