Question

1. What is the nature of buyer-seller relationships in a product’s supply chain

2. Describe the decision journey organizational buyers follow in making purchase decisions and the resulting strategy implications for the business marketer

Answer 1

The buyer-seller relationship is a bonding of trust, loyalty, and quality. It can turn a single transaction into a long-term relationship. A buyer is a person who purchases products and services form a particular supplier. A buyer can be a manufacturer as well who purchases raw materials from the raw material supplier. The relationship between buyer and seller is two dimensional, short term relationships and long-term relationships. The relationship term depends on the need of buyers and the quality of the seller. The short-term relationship is required when the degree of flexibility is the ultimate choice. On the contrary, long-term relationship is necessary when commitment and reliability between buyer and seller increase.

Factors that impact on the buyer-seller relationship are as follows:

• Product and service quality of the seller

• Organizational behaviour of both buyer and seller

• Availability of products

• Consistency in consumer relationship management

• Trustworthiness of buyers

Effectiveness of buyer-seller relationship in a supply chain management is as follows:

• Sellers build a steady brand loyalty

• Sellers make a stable customer base

• Buyers can buy services without any confusion due to the mutual bonding between the two