Business

When a product/service is purchased by a consumer, it may have been bought directly from the business, or it may have been through a number of these are known as distribution channels.

Direct

Common for small businesses, products can be sold directly to the consumer on-site i.e. directly from shop, office or home by consumers physically coming into the premises to make a buy like a village baker where the products are made and sold at the same place. This type of distribution works only when your target consumers are within the local region and are not based on a wide geographical area.

Direct Mail

This type of marketing can produce sales on a local, national, or even global, scale. A business would send out flyers, leaflets, brochures or catalogues selling a product. Any interested receivers of the mail would make an order through the contact details. There is some cost involved but is considerably cheaper compared to other sources of marketing such as advertising. Poorly targeted mail shots can also damage the image of a business, so businesses must be sure that they make mailing lists before you adopt the idea.

Telemarketing

Selling products through telemarketing is becoming increasingly popular. Similar to direct mail, telemarketing allows sales to be made on a local, national and global scale, although the costs will increase with the time and distance of phone calls. Alternatively, a professional service can be consulted to carry out the task: with an increased cost. The only downside to this like direct mail is that it is slightly intrusive.

Wholesalers

A wholesaler can be used to distribute products reaching a potentially large number of consumers. The main function of a wholesaler is to provide a link between the producer and the retailer. The advantage of selling to a wholesaler is that they often buy in bulk, splitting the purchase into smaller manageable quantities for further selling to retailers. Further, wholesalers will also take away the burden of transportation, as they often have their own network of transport delivering goods directly to retailers, which would normally