I understand perfectly well that many people read "diagonally", therefore let us once again express the idea:
We are not talking about the channel of movement of goods from the manufacturer to the buyer, but about the channel that conducts the entire flow of information accompanying the goods.
We, marketers, are not interested in building goods-money relationships apart from everything else, we are interested in the task of building relationships in such a way that each of the channel shows:

able to become a conductor of ideas, knowledge, experience of the manufacturer;
participate effectively in product promotion programs to the buyer;
provide service support for sales and goods sold;
provide feedback between the buyer and the manufacturer;
work efficiently and sustainably on all the above tasks.
Do not be offended salespeople, logisticians and financiers, but without solving these tasks, without us - marketers, any financial interest of the channel in the product will be short-term.
We will get acquainted with the participants of the marketing channel directly at the moment of considering the development of the channel from the simplest to the most complex and branched. At the time of the appearance of the next "player" I will represent him and talk about his role.

In the meantime, from the "stove" and about the bast, which I mentioned in the previous article.

About bast, or channel zero.
If the manufacturer weaves sandals and sells them himself (exchanges for money), then such a channel is called a zero level channel. In this channel there are no intermediaries, the number of "players" is reduced to a minimum: the manufacturer and the buyer.

The role of the manufacturer is to take orders for bast shoes, weave them and get money when they are sold.
Yes, I almost forgot. Let the channel and the zero level, but in it there are all of the above streams: goods, money, information, advertising.
Yes, and the manufacturer is advertising its product. And without it? Sales in this channel are called "direct sales". Far too "straighter": directly from the manufacturer - to the consumer.

Manufacturer Buyer
Manufacturer Buyer
One-tier marketing channel.
"You are behind the counter, I am whip bast shoes", - on the face of the obvious division of labor, when one - sells from the tray, and the other - does what he should do - produces goods.

This happens with the growth of consumption of goods, with the desire to earn more - by selling and producing more, or from the understanding that, as K. Prutkov said, "You cannot embrace the immense."

The transfer of manufactured goods for tray retail sales to a large number of buyers is a sign of an emerging sustainable marketing channel. If there is a retailer, then there are permanent sales and no longer under the order of the client.
The display of goods on the tray is also the first promotion of the product to a large number of potential buyers, since the tray is located in a crowded place (they say: "in a place with the right location"), this place is "lured" because it already has regular customers, a signboard and sells similar to our bast products.

Another way of development of the channel may not be on sale through a stationary tray of the bench, but with the help of portable trays of peddlers. Here were such traders, travelers, moving from the village - to the serenity and selling goods from the box.

It is obvious that the emergence of such merchants contributes to the growth of sales, because, as an organized channel is able to offer goods to a greater number of potential buyers.
And the more peddlers, or hawkers - the more sales? Yes and no!

It is senseless to walk in pairs and threes in the same villages, or it is senseless to have 2 shops in one city on the market square opposite each other. The buyers to whom they offer the goods are one and the same, their number is limited to the territory in which the merchants offer the goods. Accordingly, the appearance of the second and other shops is logical at a distance from the first, because they sell goods to other remote from the first customers who do not use the services and products of the first shop.

Let's give the names so by the way the appeared intermediaries. Both the peddler and the shop are called dealers.

Manufacturer Buyer Buyer
Manufacturer Dealer Buyer
Two-level marketing channel
Well, thanks to the efforts of dealers, bast shoes are selling well, all the participants of the marketing channel are satisfied. It is time to take care of the expansion of production and think about the issue of entering other product markets remotely located from existing dealers. Everything would be fine, and the worked-out manufacturer-dealer scheme is conditionally applicable to regionally distant markets, but the newly emerging tasks are insoluble for those who can only produce high-quality sandals. In the list of these tasks:

How to deliver the goods, we need carts and carriers?
how to store goods there, because it is often not profitable to carry often in small batches?
how to get revenue: often in small batches, and how to carry it?
How to counter the work of remote dealers?
How to advertise a product in a remote region?
All this: and inOzchikov and warehouses and shops can be organized and most, but you will need a clerk and other no small costs. And why all this, because the above-mentioned merchant Lapitin already has in another city. The bast sale business is so successful that the dealer shops are already opened by the merchant in 3 nearby cities, and all the issues with the delivery of the goods and its storage are decided by the merchant reliably and correctly. And each shop already has its own hired clerk, who manages the work of the shop independently and according to the rules approved by the merchant. The marketing channel has expanded to a large number of remote dealers, whose work is controlled by a new intermediary of a different level. Remarks of the practicing marketing specialist DISTRIBUTOR (from English distribution - a company, an entrepreneur who makes wholesale purchases and sales of certain types of goods in regional markets. Distributors usually have a preferential right and ability to acquire and sell products of the manufacturer. Distributor provides intermediary marketing services to sellers and buyers, as well as services and training. Such services are called distribution services. Possible spelling of the term - distributor. B. Raizberg, L. Lozovsky, E. Ye. Starodubtseva. Modern Dictionary of Economics. 5th ed., Pererab. and add. - M .: INFRA-M, 2007. - 495 s. Thus, the distributor is the representative of the manufacturer in a certain territory with the right mainly to acquire the products of the manufacturer and with the use of intermediary marketing services. Please note that the definition does not mention commitments to the manufacturer to promote product. On the contrary, we are talking about providing marketing services, the compensation that the manufacturer must undertake if he is really interested in selling his product. The obligations of the distributor are to represent the interests of the manufacturer in the regional market, where the manufacturer cannot, due to its remoteness the sales function of the product itself. This definition is sparvedly and then, when the distributor represents the interests of the manufacturer not only in regional markets, but also in Usk industry with gmentah market, where it has a sufficiently strong position. Thus, distributors can be not only in remote cities, but also work in adjacent markets and industry segments. In relation to our lapotny market: the distributor can sell sandals to working artels, supplying construction, manufactory, railway depot workers, and so on. That is, as we would say now: such a distributor works in the b2b segment (business for business). The scheme of the marketing channel with the distributor's participation will look like this: Manufacturer Distributor in the marketing channel Buyer Buyer Manufacturer Distributor Dealer Buyer with this scheme: Manufacturer Buyer Buyer Distributor in marketing channel Buyer BuyerManufacturer Distributor Dealer Buyer is also valid if the upper branch (without the participation of the distributor) refers to the organization of the channel in the same region in which the manufacturer operates. Remember, intermediaries (all or some of them) are not necessary if the manufacturer copes with everything himself. A three-level marketing channel Imagine a situation where our "bastard" manufacturer has its own talent, luck and perseverance of distributors selling bast shoes ... well, let's say , in America. In this situation, the whole country will need more than one distributor. It is enough to ensure a minimum of 70% presence in the retail network. Without direct management of such a team of distributors is indispensable. However, "overseas" problems cannot be solved remotely. For their permanent solution will require the so-called general distributor. Especially if the manufacturer at one time aims at organizing marketing channels in 3-4 countries. Notes of a practicing marketing specialist GENERAL DISTRIBUTOR is an importing company that independently organizes sales activities in the country (region) or in a number of countries directly or through a distributor-dealer network. EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR - a distributor with the right of sole right to sell certain types of goods on regional markets. B.Raisberg, L. Lozovsky, L. Sh., E. Starodubtseva. B. Modern Economic Dictionary. 5th ed., Pererab. and add. - M .: INFRA-M, 2007. - 495 p. The scheme of such a channel will look as follows: Manufacturer Distributor in the marketing channel Distributor in the marketing channel Buyer Buyer Manufacturer Distributor Sub Distributor Dealer Buyer On the market, the situation in which such distributor itself refers to the manufacturer with the proposal to produce goods under a certain brand specifically for the distributor. At the same time, the distributor has an exclusive right not only to sell this product on the territory, but also the right to the brand itself. About the process of production of goods under the private label govoryat: private label (well, more correctly: private label from "private label product"). As in the previous cases, the distributor provides services to the manufacturer and owner of the brand to promote the product to the market. For his efforts, he receives part of the benefits from the sale of goods under this brand. The benefits of dealers and distributors. If you remember, I consciously avoided using the concepts of profit and costs when I spoke about the benefits of intermediaries in the channel. The fact is that the profit from the sale of goods under the brand name of the manufacturer is far from the full benefit that dealers and distributors receive. Let me list the most significant components of this benefit: sales revenue; use of producer’s resources; goods on credit; promotion programs; bonus programs; manufacturer’s funds from equity financing of a regional advertising campaign; removal of a manufacturer from marketing channel management; competitive advantage over other firms in the form of this brand, if he has right to the exclusivity of representing the interests of the manufacturer; therefore, sales revenue is not the only one and is often not the most decisive of the benefits of representing the interests of the manufacturer.