General Articles

Channel Conflict

Company Profiles:

Companies Using Direct
Selling as a Primary
Distribution Strategy

Wholesalers

General Articles

Choosing Distribution Methods by Business Owner's Toolkit. An overview of the most common distribution channels and links to five steps for selecting distribution and sales force representation. Summaries of several of those steps:

Strength, Weakness, Opportunity Threat (SWOT) Key questions and factors to consider in selecting distribution channels, such as: “What are the barriers (difficulties) to entering this product category via each distribution channel?” and “How much do various distribution channels cost to successfully enter? Over what period of time is this money being spent?”

Matching Distribution to Your Goals Read about the decision-making process a gourmet cooking equipment company followed in determining its best approach for distribution and sales force representation. This includes an initial list of options, the advantages/disadvantages of each and the reasons for their final choices for distribution channels.

Prioritizing Distribution Options A long list of possible distribution channels for food supplements and vitamins is used to emphasize that small businesses, with their limited resources, must set priorities. The article continues by listing the key factors to consider in deciding which distribution channels to pursue first. The article also includes links to two case studies about how business owners make distribution decisions.

World Federation of Direct Selling Associations “The mission of the WFDSA is to support direct selling associations in the areas of governance, education, communications, consumer protection and ethics in the marketplace and to promote personal interaction among direct selling executives regarding issues of importance to the industry.”

Channel Conflict

The Birth of a Conflict -- About Channel conflict - the symptoms and contributing factors.:

What's New in Cybertalk? by Jean Gora, Resource Magazine, November 1998. Extensive quotes from insurance companies concerning whether or not to sell their insurance policies directly to customers via the Web. They debate the advantages and disadvantages, such as the risk of alienating their current networks of insurance agents who sell their policies. Although the focus of this article is specifically on the insurance industry, the issues of channel conflict are broadly applicable in other business sectors.