Topic 2.6 · Place and Channels

Place and Marketing Channels

Where and how customers access products: B2C vs. B2B, direct vs. indirect channels, and how businesses choose among them.

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Learning objectives

2.6.ADescribe the types of marketing channels available to businesses.
2.6.BSelect and evaluate potential marketing channels for a product.

Objective statements © College Board, quoted from the Course and Exam Description.

Place is the part of the marketing mix that answers where and how customers get a product. It's determined by the business's marketing channels, also called distribution channels, which are the final stage of the supply chain.

	B2C	B2B
Customer	Individual consumers	Other businesses
Example channels	Websites, retail stores	Industrial distributors

Direct vs. indirect

	Direct channel	Indirect channel
Path	Producer → customer	Producer → wholesaler and/or retailer → customer
Advantages	More control over pricing and customer experience	Partners' expertise and networks can cut costs and reach more customers
Disadvantages	Costlier to set up, more limited reach, need for sales and distribution expertise	Hard to access if rivals dominate distributors and shelf space; less control

Key terms

Place: Where and how customers access products: retail stores, company stores, club memberships, online.
Marketing (distribution) channel: All the individuals and businesses needed to deliver a finished product to the final customer. It is the last stage of the supply chain.
B2C: Business-to-consumer channels, such as websites and retail stores.
B2B: Business-to-business channels, such as industrial distributors.
Direct channel: Sells straight to customers with no intermediaries (own website, company-owned stores).
Indirect channel: Uses intermediaries such as wholesalers and retailers.
Intermediary: A business between producer and final customer, such as a wholesaler or retailer.

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