Principles of Marketing - Philip Kotler

Types wholesalers

In 1977 in the United States, there were 383 thousand. Wholesale trade enterprises with a total annual turnover of 1.258 trillion. Dollars. All the wholesalers can be divided into four groups (see. Table. 18).

Table 18. Classification of wholesalers

Wholesalers, merchants

Brokers and agents

Wholesale department and office manufacturers

Other specialized wholesalers

Wholesalers with full-service

Brokers

Agents

The sales office and offices

Wholesalers, buyers of agricultural products

wholesale Merchants

Purchasing office

Wholesale oil depot

Distributors of industrial goods

Wholesalers, auctioneers

Wholesalers cycle with limited service

Wholesalers that sell for cash without delivering the goods

Wholesalers, salesmen

Wholesalers-organizers

Wholesalers-exporters

Agricultural cooperatives

Wholesalers-posyltorgovtsy

Wholesalers, merchants take title to the goods. In 1977, they accounted for US $ 676 billion.., Ie, general wholesale oborota30 more than half of the US $ 1.258 trillion... Brokers and agents do not take ownership of the goods. They accounted for 130 billion. USD., Ie, about 10% of total wholesale turnover. Wholesale department and offices of manufacturers are subsidiaries of manufacturers, involved in wholesale trade. Their share in 1977 had US $ 452 billion.., T. E. About 36% of total wholesale turnover. The rest volume fell to the share of different specialized wholesalers.

WHOLESALERS merchant. Wholesalers, merchants - these are independent businesses that acquire ownership of all the goods with which they are dealing. In the different areas they are called in different ways: wholesale companies, wholesale distributors, supplying the house. This is the largest group of wholesalers, which accounts for about 50% of the wholesale trade (both in terms of turnover and in number of enterprises). Wholesalers, merchants are of two types: a full-service and limited-service cycle.

Wholesalers full service cycle. Wholesaler with full-service provides services such as the storage of inventory, provision merchants, credit, delivery of goods and provision of assistance in the field of management. By its nature, it is a wholesale dealers or distributors of industrial supplies.

Traders wholesale trade mainly with retail businesses, providing them with a complete set of services. From each other they differ mainly in the breadth of the assortment range of goods. Wholesalers mixed assortment engaged in several assortment groups of products, to meet both the needs of retailers with a wide range of mixed and retailers with a highly specialized product portfolio. Wholesalers narrow range saturated deal with one or two groups of the assortment of goods at a much greater depth of this range. The main examples reference is made to wholesalers technical products, medicines and clothes. Highly specialized wholesalers involved only part of a product line of goods, covering it in great depth. As examples, reference is made to wholesalers products health food, seafood and avtomotodetalyami. All of them offer their customers a more complete choice and have a deeper knowledge of the product.

Distributors of manufactured goods are sold primarily to manufacturers, not retailers. They offer their customers a range of services, such as storage of inventory, financing and delivery of goods. They may engage in any general commodity nomenclature (in this case, they are often referred to as supplying homes), either mixed or specialized range. Distributors of manufactured goods may deal exclusively with materials for maintenance, repair and operation of the main equipment parts (such as bearings, motors, etc.) or by the equipment (manual and power tools, forklifts, etc.). In the United States there are about 12 thousand. Distributors of industrial goods, and its turnover in 1974 amounted to approximately 23.5 billion. USD.

Wholesalers limited service cycle. Wholesaler limited cycle service provides to its suppliers and customers are much fewer services. There are several types of wholesale businesses with a limited set of services. Wholesaler that sells for cash and non-delivery of goods, deals with a limited range of tradable goods, which he sells to small retailers with immediate payment of the purchase, usually laying on themselves caring for export purchased. For example, the small retailer, holding a fish store, usually early in the morning sent to such wholesaler buys from him a few boxes of fish, he immediately pays itself carries goods to his store, and he unloads it.

Wholesaler-salesman not only sells, but first and foremost he delivers the goods to customers. This trader is engaged in a limited range of short-term storage of products (milk, bread, snacks), which he sells for cash, making detours supermarkets, small grocery stores, hospitals, restaurants, factory cafeterias and hotels.

Wholesaler organizer working in industries that are characterized by bulk transportation of cargo, such as coal, timber, heavy equipment. This wholesaler does not keep inventory and does not deal directly with the goods. After receiving the order, he found a manufacturer that ships the goods directly to the buyer on certain terms of delivery at a specific time. Since the adoption of the order until delivery is complete wholesale organizer assumes ownership of the goods and all the associated risks. As the wholesaler, the organizer does not store inventory, it trades at a lower price and may delegate some of the savings to its customers.

Wholesalers exporters-service grocery stores and retailers of medicines, offering mainly non-food products range. The owners of these retailers do not want to order and maintain the exposure of hundreds of non-food products. Wholesaler-exporter sends to the store vehicle, equips its representative in the shopping zalevykladki toys, paperbacks, technical products, medicinal and cosmetic products. Wholesaler, exporter itself sets the price of the goods, ensure their freshness, arranges in-store exposure and keeps records of inventories. Wholesalers, exporters sell on consignment, ie retain ownership of the goods and invoice retailers expose only what consumers bought up. Thus, they provide the following services: delivery of goods, installation of racks for its placement, maintenance of inventory financing. They almost do not engage in stimulating c6yta, as they deal with a variety of widely advertised branded goods.

Agricultural cooperatives are collectively owned by their member farmers engaged in the production of agricultural products for sale in local markets. At the end of the year all the proceeds of the cooperative are distributed among its members. Cooperative often seeks to improve the quality of their products and promote their brand name: raisins "San Maid" orange "Sunkist" walnuts "Diamond."

Wholesaler-posyltorgovets sends catalogs for jewelry, cosmetics, food specialties and other small goods to customers from the sphere of retail, industrial production and various institutions. The main customers of the wholesaler are commercial establishments located in the surrounding areas. Completed orders are sent to customers by mail, delivered by road or any other efficient means of transport.

Brokers and agents. Agents and brokers are different from wholesalers, merchants on two criteria: they do not take ownership of the goods and perform only a limited number of functions. Their main function - to promote the sale. For their services they receive a commission of between 2 and 6% of the selling price of the goods. Like wholesalers, merchants, they usually specialize in either type of the proposed product portfolio, or by type of clients served by them. The share of brokers and agents accounted for 10% of total wholesale turnover.

Brokers. The main function of the broker - to bring buyers and sellers and help them reach an agreement. Broker pays the one who drew it. The broker does not keep inventory, does not participate in financing transactions, does not assume any risk. The most typical examples - Broker of food, real estate, insurance brokers and brokers for securities transactions.

Agents. The agent represents the buyer or seller to a long-term basis. There are several kinds of agents.

Manufacturers agents (also referred to as representatives of manufacturers) are superior in numbers wholesalers, agents of all other species. Such an agent is two or more manufacturers of complementary products. He concludes the formal written agreement with each individual producer in respect of pricing policy, the territorial boundaries of activity, passing orders procedures, services for the delivery of the goods issued by these guarantees products and commission rates sizes. He is familiar with the product range of each manufacturer and organizes the sale of its products, relying on their extensive contacts with customers. It provides agents manufacturers have resorted to trade in such goods as clothes, furniture and electrical goods. Most agents are small businesses, has only a few employees who are skilled vendors. They employ small businesses that can not afford to own the content of state business travelers, as well as large industrial firms that want to penetrate with the help of agents to new territories or to be represented in the areas where the use of full-time salespeople unprofitable.

Authorized sales agents enter into contracts with manufacturers to obtain rights to the sale of all let one or another producer of the product. Such manufacturer or does not want to take over the functions of sales, or does not feel prepared for this activity. Plenipotentiary sales agent serves as a manufacturer's sales department and has a significant impact on prices, terms and conditions of sale. His work is usually not limited to any territorial limits. Authorized sales agents are found in the areas of commodity production as textiles, industrial machinery, coal, coke, chemicals and metals.

Purchasing Agents usually draw up long-term relationships with their customers and purchase necessary goods for them, often getting these products, testing their quality by organizing storage and subsequent delivery to the destination. One variety of procurement agents are local buyers in major markets clothes, they looked for the range, which could trade small retail shops in small towns. These buyers have a wide knowledge and provide their clients with useful information about the market, and look for them the most suitable products at the most favorable prices.

Wholesalers-picker (or firm-picker) - are agents that come into the physical possession of the goods and independently conclude a deal to sell them. As a rule, they do not work on the basis of long-term agreements. These services often resort on the sale of their products, farmers who do not want to engage in self-marketing and are not members of agricultural production cooperatives. Wholesaler-commissioner drives a truck with the goods at the central market, sells the whole party at the most favorable price, deduct from their revenue fees and expenses and transfers the remaining amount of the manufacturer.

WHOLESALERS AND BRANCH OFFICES OF. The third major kind of wholesale trade consists of transactions carried out by sellers and buyers on their own, without the involvement of independent wholesalers. There are two kinds of companies engaged in such activities.

The sales office and offices. Manufacturers often acquire its own sales branches and offices, to keep under more stringent inventory control management activities, marketing and stimulation. The marketing department store inventory and are found in such industries as forestry, manufacturing and avtomotooborudovaniya details. The sales offices do not keep inventory and are most common in the field of textiles and haberdashery. The share of sales branches and offices accounted for about 11% of the total number of wholesale establishments and 36% of total wholesale turnover.

Purchasing office. Many retailers comprise the major market centers such as New York and Chicago, its own purchasing offices. Purchasing office plays roughly the same role as brokers or agents, but is a structural unit of the buyer organization.

OTHER SPECIALIZED WHOLESALERS. In a number of industries have their own specialized wholesale organization. Wholesalers - buyers buy agricultural products from farmers and collected it in large batches for shipment to the food industry, bakeries, bakeries and customers on behalf of government agencies. Wholesale oil depot sell and deliver oil filling stations, other retailers and businesses. Wholesalers, auctioneers play an important role in those sectors of activity where consumers want before making a purchase to examine the goods. This, for example, tobacco and livestock markets.

Marketing solutions wholesaler

Wholesalers must take a series of marketing decisions, the most important of which relate to the choice of the target market, the formation of product portfolio and range of services, pricing, promotion and site selection of plant location.

DECISION ON target market. Like retailers, wholesalers need to define your target market, rather than trying to serve all at once. Wholesaler can choose a target group of customers on the basis of their size (for example, only large retailers), their type (for example, the only grocery store), the severity of their interest in the service (for example, customers in need of loans) and on the basis of other criteria. Within the target group wholesaler can identify the most profitable customers for themselves, to develop attractive offers for them and to establish a closer relationship with them. It can offer these customers an automatic dispensing system of repeat orders, to organize training courses for guidance and counseling services and even to sponsor a voluntary network. At the same time wholesaler can wean itself from less profitable customers by setting higher minimum amounts of orders or allowance in price for small volume orders.

DECISION ON product portfolio and range of services. "Goods" is a wholesaler of his proposed range. At wholesalers exert strong pressure so that they offer a full range and to maintain sufficient stocks of goods for immediate delivery. But it can have a negative impact on profit. And today again Wholesalers think much about how many product lines of goods to engage in, and select only the most favorable to commodity group.

Simultaneously, wholesalers think back over what services to help ensure the most close relations with customers, and by public services should be discarded or make them pay. Main - to form well-defined set of services, the most valuable in terms of customers.

DECISION ON PRICES. To cover its costs Wholesalers usually produce a certain margin, say 20%, and the initial cost of the goods. Costs may dostigat17% of gross profit, net profit and then the wholesaler will be only about 3%. In the wholesale trade of grocery-gastronomic products are often net profit is less than 2%. Wholesalers are beginning to experiment with new approaches to pricing problems. For example, they can reduce the size of the net profit on some products, to win a greater right customers. Они могут обратиться к поставщику с предложением установить низкую льготную цену, если у них есть возможность добиться благодаря этому увеличения общего сбыта товаров этого поставщика.

РЕШЕНИЕ О МЕТОДАХ СТИМУЛИРОВАНИЯ. Большинство оптовых торговцев не слишком задумываются о стимулировании. Использование ими рекламы на сферу торговли, стимулирования сбыта, пропаганды и методов личной продажи носит в основном случайный характер. Особенно отстает у них техника личной продажи, поскольку оптовики до сих пор рассматривают сбыт как переговоры одного коммивояжера с одним клиентом, а не как коллективные усилия по обеспечению продаж основным клиентам, укреплению отношений с этими клиентами и удовлетворению их потребностей в услугах. Кроме того, оптовикам необходимо взять на вооружение и некоторые приемы неличного стимулирования, применяемые розничными торговцами. Оптовикам необходимо разработать всеобъемлющую стратегию стимулирования. Им следует шире пользоваться в своих интересах материалами и программами стимулирования, которыми пользуются поставщики.

РЕШЕНИЕ О МЕСТЕ РАЗМЕЩЕНИЯ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯ. Оптовые торговцы обычно размещают свои предприятия в районах с низкой арендной платой и низким налогообложением и тратят минимум средств на благоустройство территории и оборудование помещений. Нередко применяемые ими методы грузообработки и прохождения заказов отстают от уровня современной техники и технологии. Для борьбы с растущими издержками передовые оптовики разрабатывают новые методы и приемы деятельности. Одной из таких разработок стало создание автоматизированных складов с записью поступающих заказов на перфокарты, которые затем вводятся в ЭВМ. Товары извлекаются из мест хранения с помощью механических устройств и подаются транспортером на отгрузочную платформу, где происходит комплектование заказа. Складская механизация, равно как и механизация многих конторских работ, развивается очень высокими темпами. Многие оптовые торговцы обращаются к компьютерам и текстовым процессорам, используя их для бухгалтерских операций, выставления счетов, управления товарно-материальными запасами и прогнозирования.