In order to be successful and reach the expected goals, a company oriented on providing consumers with goods and/or services has to create a marketing mix that would meet the expectations and satisfy the needs of a the target group. Product, price, promotion and place are the four components in a marketing mix. A product has to have some specific qualities, cost the right amount of money, be advertised in a certain way and be available in the right time and at the right place. When marketing managers seem to be mostly concerned about the product, its promotion and estimation of the appropriate price, what does the place (distribution) matter in a marketing mix and how can it help a company to sell its products?
Distribution is of a great importance to any company, whether big or small, because it is a way to make the products available to a customer. While there is an extremely competitive environment for products and services, place is an essential component of a marketing mix (Spitfire, "Summary of IGCSE Business Studies").
There are different variations of distribution, that depend on which type of product a company provides with, as well as other numerous factors. When thinking about the distribution, a business must determine the right time, place and quantity for a product to appear on the shelves in order to increase the sales (Spitfire, "Summary of IGCSE Business Studies"). If a good product is sold at the right price and with a rather strong promotion campaign, the efforts are not worth it when the consumers are no able to buy the product due to the retailers’ location or if your competitor has a greater distribution that makes your product unnoticeable or undesirable (Riley, “What is the role of “place” in the marketing mix?”). For a company one of the ways of surviving in the struggle with competitors would be not no invest more in advertising (what could cost a lot), but to come up with the best variation of distribution that would make the product noticeable among the competitor`s products, saving company`s budget and increasing the sales.
Another way a business benefits from a well-built place component is by being able to lower the price of a product. Choosing the best way to transport and distribute the product among the retailers helps the company to reduce the additional fees, added to the price of each product. The ability to offer a certain product at more reasonable price is an important aspect of surviving the competition struggle. The sales also could be increased by delivering the product at the right time, what is most likely to directly influence the numbers of sales in case the goods are perishable or of a greater demand on certain occasions, seasons or holidays. The right place for a product involves such factors as its visibility and accessibility, as well as the density of the traffic near it (Udemy Blog, “Marketing Mix Place: Deciding Factors for Business Growth"). Taking mentioned factors into consideration helps businesses to prevent money losses from the unsatisfying number of sales.
The place component of the marketing mix is also helpful while that it can ensure a greater distribution, making more products available to a greater number of customers. This aspect is of a great matter if the company sells its products on a big territory, in several countries or even worldwide. When choosing a distribution, it is also important to know your target group and make the location of your business and/or its products as convenient to your potential consumer as possible. If the location is inconvenient, the customer most likely will not make some extra efforts to reach the product, despite its qualities, price and promotion (Udemy Blog, “Marketing Mix Place: Deciding Factors for Business Growth"). Contrariwise, the more convenient is the location and the fewer competitors can be found there, the greater could be a price. The mentioned measures are another way to increase the sales and company`s profit with the help of distribution.
Although the determination of distribution of a product is usually conducted at the last stage of a product launch, its importance should not be underestimated. The place is interdependent with the other three components of the marketing mix, where each one has a great impact on the other component and the length of a life cycle of a certain product in general. In this way, choosing the best variation of distribution and its channels helps company to spend less money at each stage of a product launch, such as promotion that could require a big budget. Coming up with the right place component is rather useful to businesses while it makes it possible to make a product noticeable on the shelves, increase the sales by delivering the product in the right time and in convenient way, save the budget by spending less money on advertising and make the product more competitive on the market with the help of a lower price.
Works Cited
Riley, Jim. "What Is the Role of “place” in the Marketing Mix?" Tutor2u. Business Studies, 3 Jan. 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/business-studies/comments/qa-what-is-the-role-of-place-in-the-marketing-mix>.
Spitfire. "Summary of IGCSE Business Studies." Chapter 22. The Marketing Mix: Place. N.p., Aug. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://igbusinesss.blogspot.com/2011/05/chapter-22-marketing-mix-place.html>.
"Marketing Mix Place: Deciding Factors for Business Growth." Udemy Blog. N.p., 30 May 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <https://www.udemy.com/blog/marketing-mix-place/>
