International Marketing Channels Chapter 14 Modular Afjal Hossain

International Marketing Channels Chapter . 14 Modular: Afjal Hossain Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing PSTU Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin International Marketing, 13/e

Channel-of-Distribution Structures • All consumer and industrial products eventually go through a distribution process. – Physical handling and distribution of goods – Passage of ownership – Buying and selling negotiations between producers and middlemen – Buying and selling negotiations between middlemen and customers • Each country market has a distribution structure through which goods pass from producer to user.

Import-Oriented Distribution Structure • Demand exceeds supply • The customer seeks the supply from a limited number of middlemen • Distribution systems are local • Few countries fit the import-oriented model today In an import-oriented or traditional distribution structure, an importer controls a fixed supply of goods and the marketing system develops around the philosophy of selling a limited supply of goods at high prices to a small number of affluent customers.

Japanese Distribution Structure 1. A structure dominated by many small middlemen dealing with many small retailers 2. Channel control by manufacturers 3. A business philosophy shaped by a unique culture 4. Laws that protect the foundation of the system

Comparison of Distribution Channels between the United States and Japan • Insert Exhibit 14. 1

High Density of Middlemen • Not unusual for consumer goods to go through three or four intermediaries before reaching the consumer • In Japan, small stores account for 57. 7 percent of retail food sales • In the U. S. , small stores generate 19. 2 percent of food sales • Japan has a large number of independent groceries and bakers, unlike America with an emphasis on supermarkets, discount food stores, and department stores

Channel Control 1. 2. 3. 4. Inventory financing Cumulative rebates Merchandise returns Promotional support

Business Philosophy • Emphasizes loyalty, harmony, and friendship • Supports long-term dealer-supplier relationships • The cost of Japanese consumer goods are among the highest in the world • Japanese law gives the small retailer enormous advantage over the development of larger stores

Large-Scale Retail Store Law and Its Successor • Daitenho – the Large-Scale Retail Store Law – Large stores must have approval from the prefecture government – All proposals first judged by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) – Then, if all local retailers unanimously agreed, the plan was approved – Could be a lengthy process – Applied to both domestic and foreign companies • Replaced by the Large-Scale Retail Store Location Act of June 2000 – MITI out of the process – Relaxed restrictions

Changes in the Japanese Distribution System • • • Structural Impediments Initiative Deregulation Wal-Mart “New” retailers The Internet

Trends: From Traditional to Modern Channel Structures • European retailers merging with former competitors and other countries to form Europe-wide enterprises • Foreign retailers attracted by the high margins and prices • The Internet may be the most important trend affecting distribution • Covisint • Global. Net. Xchange • E-commerce • 7 -Eleven competes with Fed. Ex and UPS

Distribution Patterns • General patterns – Middlemen services – Line breadth – Costs and margins – Channel length – Nonexistent channels – Blocked channels – Stocking – Power and competition

Distribution Patterns (continued) • Retail patterns – Size patterns – Direct marketing – Resistance to change

Alternative Middleman Choices • Seller must exert influence over two sets of channels: – One in the home country – One in the foreign-market country • Agent middlemen – represent the principal rather than themselves • Merchant middlemen – take title to the goods and buy and sell on their own account

Home-Country Middlemen • • • Manufacturer’s retail stores Global retailers Export management companies Trading companies U. S. export trading companies Complementary marketers Manufacturer’s export agent Home-country brokers Buying offices

Home-Country Middlemen (continued) • • • Selling groups Webb-Pomerene export associations Foreign sales corporation Export merchants Export jobbers

Foreign-Country Middlemen • • • Manufacturer’s representatives Distributors Foreign-country brokers Managing agents and compradors Dealers Import jobbers, wholesalers, and retailers

Government-Affiliated Middlemen • Marketers must deal with governments in every country of the world • Products, services, and commodities for the government’s own use are always procured through government purchasing offices at federal, regional, and local levels • Efficiency of public sector versus the private sector

Factors Affecting Choice of Channels • • • Cost Capital requirements Control Coverage Character Continuity

Locating, Selecting, and Motivating Channel Members • Locating middlemen • Selecting middlemen – Screening – The agreement • Motivating middlemen • Terminating middlemen • Controlling middlemen

The Internet • E-commerce is used to market: – Business-to-business (BSB) services – Consumer and industrial products • E-commerce is more developed in the U. S. than in the rest of the world • B 2 B enables companies to cut costs in three ways: – Reduces procurement costs – Allows better supply-chain management – Makes possible tighter inventory control

Concerns for e-Vendors • • • Culture Adaptation Local contact Payment Delivery Promotion