FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS DISTRIBUTORS’SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND MARKETING INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM ON CUSTOMER FEEDBACK.

Management

Distribution channels play a pivotal role in marketing by performing a number of vital distribution functions. Firms rely mostly on their marketing channels to generate customer satisfaction and to achieve differentiation over competition. The major area of concern for companies is to make their products available in the remotest corners of the 6 lakh villages in the country. This goal is not easy to achieve and the major companies are incurring huge costs to make their products available in the 3.5 million rural outlets. It is a challenge for any company to design a distribution model that is cost effective and that meets the growing demand from the rural market. There are a whole lot of channels involved in the distribution network. FMCG distribution has the maximum channel partners in the Indian market. There is seldom a clear-cut distinction between wholesalers and retailers, particularly in the feeder markets where often retailers act as wholesalers and vice versa to sell to small retailers who come from surrounding villages. In some cases, dealers have been able to build up their wholesale business to a substantial level. Some town retailers send their salesmen to villages to book orders and supply goods to these small retailers. According to American Marketing Association, marketing is defined as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large (Keefe, 2007). The marketing concept does not focus on one aspect of marketing, but recognizes the roles of non-marketers in the marketing process such as customers, vendors, or external agencies who regulate marketing. While marketing centers around satisfying customer needs, an organization would often face the requirement of obtaining information on customer needs.

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