In: Operations Management
You are the marketing manager of a food product company that is considering entering the Indian market. The retail system in India tends to be very fragmented. Also, retailers and wholesalers tend to have long-term ties with Indian food companies, these make access to distribution channels difficult. What distribution strategy would you advise the company to pursue? Why?
As a marketing manager, I would prefer the firm to sell either to wholesalers or import agents. In a fragmented retail system no retailer has a majority of the market share to influence the industry. This means that it would cost heavily for the firm to contact each retailer and explain about the product. Both import agents and wholesalers have long-term relationship with the wholesales, resellers, retailers and other import agents (sub-agents). Wholesalers have long-term relationship with the retailers and their business has stability. These advantages make it a best choice for the firm to choose the wholesaler or the import agents who have ties with the retailers. One other advantage is that the number of wholesalers and/or import agents would be less when compared to the retailers or retail outlets. This helps the company to have more access and control over the distribution channel partners namely, wholesalers and/or import agents in this case. An agent/wholesaler is a good choice as they help to move the goods to the market quickly than other distribution channels.