Various Flows in the Marketing Channels, Essay Example

The management perspective of the marketing channel is to leverage the channel and the multiplicity of the channel to drive consumption of the product. The management perspective marginally differs from other perspectives in that it is seen as one of many channels that can be leveraged to promote the product. While marketing executives exclusively focus on this channel, it should be seen as one of many devoted to the product.

There are eight main flows involved in marketing channels: physical promotion, financing, ordering, ownership, negotiation, risking, and payment.

Expertise and economies of scale in production is focused on manufacturing of products and knowing how to produce more for less.  In distribution, the questions and goals are different: the question is about maximizing channels and how the product reaches the customer.  The same knowledge that comes from understanding how to concentrate resources for production does not translate into the knowledge needed to leverage the numerous distribution channels to reach the consumer.

The increase in the average size of retail units means that marketing professionals will have to pay more attention to this channel vis-à-vis others that might be managed by the firm.  Indeed, producing and manufacturing firms should realize that while multiple channel management is necessary, they need to place more emphasis on the retail outlet.