Definition of sales channel

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Sales channels, when used correctly, ultimately determine the success of the entire business project. This tool can be compared to the path along which the product goes to the client (or vice versa), and the shorter this path, the more the chosen channel corresponds to the specifics of the business.

There is no single list of sales channels - marketers distinguish several groups based on the operating principle. There is no universal path that would suit any company - everything is crypto email list individual. In our article, we will tell you about what sales channels are, how to choose them and manage them.

The concept of a sales channel, or distribution, is one of the main ones in sales management. When revenue falls, it is necessary first of all to analyze the effectiveness of the channels used.

As a rule, companies are not limited to a single sales channel for their products. Therefore, it is so important to understand the specifics of each of them in order to be aware of all the possible risks that arise when combining several.

In fact, this term is a literal translation of the English “sales channel”, “distribution channel”. However, such an obvious translation does not explain the essence of the phenomenon itself. After all, the sales channel is the entire range of opportunities to sell the manufactured product and carry out its further maintenance, and not just placing an order and delivering the purchase.

Direct sales or personal

In no sales channel can a product (or service) sell itself. A transaction takes place only after the manufacturer, supplier or seller has completed the following five steps:

will conduct events to attract the attention of potential clients;

convey the value of the offered product to their target audience;

gain consumer trust;

create conditions for convenient payment of the order;

will guarantee delivery of the ordered product or provision of the service.

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All these five steps are mandatory and necessary, and each of them is an expenditure of effort and money, as well as the need for specific skills. The manufacturer can do everything at his own expense and with his own efforts, but they are not always enough - often help is needed to establish sales. This task is solved by product sales channels.

The company must decide how many intermediaries between it and the end consumer are acceptable. A small number of intermediate links makes the sales channel more expensive, a large number makes it cheaper but opaque (the supplier does not always understand the path its product takes to the buyer).