Place or distribution is a critical element of marketing mix. It is the location where goods are made available for purchase. This is also termed as distribution channel. It becomes convenient for some manufacturers to sell their products to wholesalers who in turn sell them to the retailers, while other manufacturers prefer to directly sell their products to retailers or customers. This whole process is known as ‘distribution channel’. Place involves different methods of transportation and storage of goods and then making them accessible to the end consumers. The role of the distribution System is to deliver the right product to the right place at the right time. Other than this, distribution also carries out facilitating, logistical and transactional functions. The decisions related to distribution include market coverage, logistics, selecting channel members, and level of service. Numerous conditions govern the selection of distribution method. Any physical or virtual (internet-based) store can be a part of it. The decisions to place activity is majorly dominated by distribution channel. All place decisions are associated with the distribution channels, as it is the means of delivering the products to the customers, The decisions associated with the selection of a mix combining different types of distribution channels for delivering the goods from producers to final consumers is referred to as ‘place mix’. Customers are offered these goods via wholesalers and retailers or directly through chain stores. Any one of the channels is chosen, keeping in mind the convenience of customer’s reachability. Hence, place is a part of organisational strategy which depicts the way it intends to make its goods and services available to its customers so as to attain profitable exchange from them. Managing the flow of material and goods, from raw material to finished product is known as Physical Distribution Management or Distribution Management. Physical distribution management (PDM) is the most significant aspect of every business and it is extremely complex process. We can say that PDM is marketing’s other side. The purpose of marketing is to create demand, while the purpose of PDM is to fulfill the demand by making the product efficient, low-cost, and quickly available. The main objective of PDM is to make sure that the product is available at the right time and at the right place. Among the four P ‘s of marketing, ‘place’ is considered to be as least dynamic. Scholars and experts of marketing are inclined to focus on most apparent feature of marketing. Many of the PDM expertise are derived from military practices. Now, PDM is considered as an important field of overall marketing management.
Fulfilling the demands by creating place and time utility is the main concern of distribution management.
Distribution Management = Physical Distribution + Marketing Channel
Distribution management involves meeting the customer needs by controlling, managing, and implementing the flow of material from point of origin to the point of consumption.