• Geographic logistics – will a central distributor do or must you have
distributors spread throughout the market?
• Product diversity – does the customer require multiple product
diversity or will a standard product be enough?
• Additional services – Does the customer value other issues such as
guarantee, franco, credit extension, etc.?

Choosing Distributive System
Many people want to sell their product/service directly to their customers.
Doing so, you score the full profit yourself without having to split it between
one or more intermediaries.

There is a tendency towards direct sales to consumers, but to a newly
established company a hook-up with one or more distributors could be a
wise decision.

A distributor/liaison can take some costly tasks off your shoulders. An
example:
• Collecting market data
• Marketing
• Negotiation
• Order book
• Financing
• Transfer of risk
• Warehousing
• Payments
• Carriage to customers

Having analysed your customers’ purchasing behaviour and the pros and
cons of using a distributor you are now ready to choose the ideal
distribution system for you and your customers.

Competitors
You are practically never alone in the market you want to operate in. There
will always be one or more companies providing a similar service or product
meeting the same demand as yours.

Know your competitors – even better than they do themselves.
First, identify them, then seek as much information about them as possible.

• How many are they?
• How widespread are they - geographically?
• What are their staffing level?
• What services do they offer?
• What is their price level?
• How is their quality?
• What are their weaknesses, if any?
• What is their image among their customers?

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