What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the direct and indirect marketing channels?

I. Advantages and disadvantages of indirect marketing channels and applicable industries

1. Advantages: Expanded sales channels, expanding the market, the market share has a very important role.

2. Disadvantages: Indirect marketers often rely on their own subjective imagination to introduce the product features and benefits when recommending to customers, but in reality there is no such a high level of protection or benefits.

3, applicable to the insurance and real estate industry.

Two, the advantages and disadvantages of direct distribution channels and applicable industries

1, the advantages:

(1), can quickly understand the needs of consumers and changes in the insurance market.

(2), conducive to reducing operating expenses and distribution costs

2. Disadvantages

(1), not conducive to the expansion of the sales market.

3, applicable to calligraphy and painting, antiques market.

Expanded information:

The structure of the marketing channel

The structure of the marketing channel. can be divided into three types: length structure, or hierarchical structure; width structure, and breadth structure. The three types of channel structure constitute the three major elements or channel variables of channel design. Further, the length, width and breadth variables in the channel structure completely describe a three-dimensional channel system.

The length structure of a marketing channel, also known as the hierarchical structure, is a channel structure defined according to the number of channel intermediaries (purchasing and selling segments), i.e., the number of channel tiers, that it contains. Typically, according to the number of channel levels included, a marketing channel can be divided into zero, one, two and three channels.

Zero-level channel, also known as direct channel (direct channel), is a channel structure without the participation of channel intermediaries. Zero-level channel can also be understood as a special case of distribution channel structure. In a zero-level channel, the product or service is sold directly from the producer to the consumer.

The zero-level channel is a large or valuable products and technically complex, need to provide specialized services to take the main channel of product sales. In the IT industry chain, some domestic and foreign well-known IT companies, such as Lenovo, IBM, HP and other companies to set up a large customer department or industry customer department belongs to the zero-level channel. In addition, DELL's direct sales model, is a typical zero-level channel.

The first-level channel includes a channel intermediary. In the industrial market, this channel intermediary is usually an agent, commission merchant or distributor; while in the consumer market, this channel intermediary is usually a retailer.

The secondary channel consists of two channel intermediaries. In the industrial market, these two channel intermediaries are usually agents and wholesalers, while in the consumer market, these two channel intermediaries are usually wholesalers and retailers.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Marketing Channels