Q.1. What are the different types of wholesalers? Give their comparison.

Wholesalers Wholesalers are usually independent companies or businesses that buy and resell large quantities of products from one or more supplier. Wholesalers typically purchase stock at very low prices because they order in large quantities. Usually wholesalers resell stock at wholesale pricing to resellers, retailers, distributors and other wholesalers. A wholesaler will also usually resell the goods in smaller quantities to retailers and resellers at low cost compared to recommended retail price. Wholesalers generally operate from warehouses where they can store goods in bulk quantities. Historically wholesalers were nearer the point of sale than the point manufacturer. However with internet trading and trade networks such as www.the-reseller-network.com there are a growing number of wholesalers and distributors in Asia where many goods are manufactured. A wholesaler will generally buy goods from suppliers at the beginning of the supply chain such as manufacturers and resell to distributors and retailers, although some may also supply to consumers. Wholesalers will generally specialise in one industry supplying many different products in different categories from single or multiple suppliers. A wholesale supplier may also be the Brand owner or manufacturer supplying to distributors, resellers and retailers directly in bulk at wholesale pricing.

Types of Wholesalers-

1. Merchant Wholesalers These wholesale suppliers own and produce a product or service and resell their
products to resellers, retailers, distributors and other wholesalers. If you can buy the products you require direct from the supplier you will usually be able to obtain the best prices and profit margins.

2. General Wholesalers - Wholesalers that fall into this category will usually buy large quantities of products
from one or more suppliers and will be intending to add value to them by reselling in smaller quantities to distributors, retailers and resellers. This type of wholesale supplier will often have multiple suppliers adding diversity to their product range and choice for their customers. This type of wholesaler may resell products from a number of different industries and in several different categories.

3. Speciality Wholesalers - This type of wholesaler will resell products in a specific industry or product
category, but may have products from multiple suppliers. Because specialty wholesalers specialize in a specific industry or product type they tend to have good product knowledge and good pricing.

4. Specific Product Wholesalers - These are wholesalers who only supply 1 type of product for example
footwear or computers. They may supply several brands but only within one product category. Manufacturers often use this type of wholesaler to distribute one or more of their products.

5. Discount Wholesalers This type of wholesaler will supply significantly discounted stock. Generally the
stock is discounted because the products are discontinued lines, returned goods or refurbished goods.

6. Drop Ship Wholesalers - This type of wholesaler will complete the sale of a product but will have it
dispatched from their supplier directly to their customer without actually handling the goods.

7. On-line Wholesaler - Wholesalers who sell their products on-line offer discounted prices as they can
reduce their overheads such as rent and rates of physical premises. This type of wholesaler is therefore able to add a lower percentage to their purchase price and still make margin. Comparison of wholesalers on the basis of their functionality-

Full Service Wholesalers- offer widest possible range of functions. Categorized as: o General Merchandise-wide mix (unrelated), limited depth. o Limited Line-only few products but an extensive assortment. o Specialty Line-narrowest range of products. o Rack Jobbers-are specialty line that own and maintain display racks, take back unsold products.

Limited Service Merchant Wholesalers- only provide some marketing functions. o Cash and Carry wholesaler-customers pay and furnish their own transportation, No credit. o Truck Wholesalers-Operate rolling warehouses and sell a limited line of products directly from their trucks to their customers. Follow regular routes, primarily perishable products. o Drop Shippers (desk jobbers)-take title, negotiate sales but do not take possession. o Mail Order Wholesalers-use catalogues instead of sales force to sell.

Agents and Brokers o Negotiate purchases, expedite sales but do not take title. Functional middlemen, that bring buyers and sellers together. Compensated with commission. o Agents represent buyers and sellers on a permanent basis. Brokers represent buyers and sellers on a temporary basis.

2. Explain Concepts of Distribution a) Break Bulkingthis refers to one of the important functions of wholesalers which refers to the way wholesalers achieve savings for their customers through buying merchandize in large lots and breaking the bulk into smaller units.

b) Trans shipmentTransshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination. Transshipment is the act of shipping goods to an intermediate destination prior to reaching their ultimate end-use. Transshipment is a common practice with logistic benefits, but can be used to illegitimately to disguise country of origin or intent of the goods. One possible reason is to change the means of transport during the journey (for example from ship transport to road transport), known astransloading. Another reason is to combine small shipments into a large shipment (consolidation), dividing the large shipment at the other end (deconsolidation). Transshipment usually takes place in transport hubs. Much international transshipment also takes place in designated customs areas, thus avoiding the need for customs checks or duties, otherwise a major hindrance for efficient transport. Note that transshipment is generally considered as a legal term. An item handled (from the shipper's point of view) as a single movement is not generally considered transshipped, even though it may in reality change from one transport

to another at several points. Previously it was often not distinguished from transloading since each leg of such a trip was typically handled by a different shipper. Transshipment is normally fully legitimate and an everyday part of the world's trade. However, it can also be a method used to disguise intent, as is the case with illegal logging,smuggling or grey market goods.

Transshipment is commonly used by smugglers and terrorists seeking to disguise the point of origin of their goods from Customs officials. Certain countries like Libya, North Korea, and Syria are considered higher risk for security threats while countries like China and Taiwan are likely sources for counterfeit goods. Importers can transship goods both intentionally and accidentally. Intentional transshipments are done to avoid higher duty rates levied on certain countries, avoid import restrictions like visa and quota restrictions, or make use of a special trade program to drastically lower duty rates.

Fig. Trans shipment process at Port

c) ConsidilationConsolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers and acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group company as consolidated financial statements. The taxation term of consolidation refers to the treatment of a group of companies and other entities as one entity for tax purposes. Under the Halsbury's Laws of England, 'amalgamation' is defined as "a blending together of two or more undertakings into one undertaking, the shareholders of each blending company, becoming, substantially, the shareholders of the blended undertakings. There may be amalgamations, either by transfer of two or more undertakings to a new company, or to the transfer of one or more companies to an existing company". Thus, the two concepts are, substantially, the same. However, the term amalgamation is more common when the organizations being merged are private schools or regiments. Types of Business Amalgamation-

There are three forms of business combinations: Statutory Merger: a business combination that results in the liquidation of the acquired companys assets and the survival of the purchasing company. Statutory Consolidation: a business combination that creates a new company in which none of the previous companies survive. Stock Acquisition: a business combination in which the purchasing company acquires the majority, more than 50%, of the Common stock of the acquired company and both companies survive. Amalgamation: Means an existing Company (Vendor Company) which is taken over by another existing company. In such course of amalgamation, the consideration may be paid in "cash" or in "kind", and the purchasing company survives in this process.

3. What is channel Conflict. What are the reasons for the channel conflicts? How this can be managed. Channel conflict is a situation in which channel partners have to compete against one another or the vendor's internal sales department. Channel conflict can cost a company and its partners money as partners try to undercut one another. It can also lower morale within the channel and cause some partners to consider other vendors. To prevent channel conflict, partners sometimes enact agreements such as deal registration. Channel conflict occurs when manufacturers (brands) disintermediate their channel partners, such as distributors, retailers, dealers, and sales representatives, by selling their products direct to consumers through general marketing methods and/or over the internet through eCommerce Channel conflict may also occur among various segments of corporate departments, such as the sales channel. For example, the direct contact component of the sales department may have to compete with other sales channels, such as telephone, online and mail campaigns. Three typesa) Verticle level Conflict b)Horizontal level Conflict c)Multi- level Conflict Reasons of Channel Conflicts1.Pricing2. Purchase Term 3. Shelf Space 4. Delivery 5. Exclusivity 6. Advertisement Support 7. profitability 8. order size 9. Importance of Account

10. Branding Conflict ManagementChannel conflict is an integral part of your channel strategy, so you must examine your market position and channel strategy before attempting to manage it. Taking a closer look at the problem often reveals that the perceived channel conflict issue masks a larger channel strategy issue. So prior to executing solutions to address channel conflict, the manufacturer is encouraged to examine all elements of its overall channel strategy, including pricing, end user segmentation, channel support programs, company policies, etc

Dual compensationapplied when conflict exists between direct and indirect channels. The goal is to move the indirect channel from a position of potential adversary for the direct sales force to one of "partner" for the direct sales force Activity based compensation or discountused to manage cross-channel conflict or conflict between channels of differing cost structures and capabilities. Activity based discounts are applied by paying a channel a specific discount if it performs a measurable task or function. These discounts allow the "highcost" channel to compete against "low-cost" channels for those customers who value the high support Shared coststhe key difference between this concept and functional discounts is that functional discounts compensate the channel for incremental tasks via a discount on product sold, while shared costs pay directly for the task Compensation for market shareusually applied to direct versus indirect conflict, the direct sales rep is compensated based on total market share in a territory. The goals of the sales rep are based on direct and indirect volume, thus motivating the direct rep to "partner" with indirect channels to maximize territory volume Accountsyou specify "named" or "house" accounts where indirect channels can expect to compete with your direct channels. Named accounts are usually specified based on end-user sourcing capabilities, channel ability to meet end-user buying requirements, and volume and strategic value Productschannels can qualify for franchising by product line/category across your company's offering. Product qualification is usually based on end-user product support needs, channel support capabilities, "fit" or positioning of the product category in the channel's overall business, and strategic considerations Geographyas a manufacturer, you can specify those geographies/account types in which you will provide sales support to the channel. These geographies are usually defined by granting the channel a primary area of responsibility

Q. 4 . What is Logistics? What are the componants of logistics? Explain with suitable examples. Logistics is the management of the flow of resources, between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet some requirements, i.e. of customers or corporations. The resources managed in logistics can include physical items as food, materials, equipment, liquids and staff as well as abstract items as information, particles and energy. The logistics of physical items usually involves the integration of information flow, material handling, production, packaging, inventory, transportation, warehousing and oftentimessecurity. Furthermore the complexity of logistics can be modeled, analyzed, visualized and optimized by dedicated simulation software.

Components of logistics There are Several kinds of logistics Components1.GENERIC COMPONENT- It includes a) CUSTOMER SERVICE-Customer service requirements for products and/or competitive advantage; -Corporate vision towards service goals; -Service expectations of customers & their response;

-Development of customer service standard; -Logistics cost-service trade-off; -Infrastructural requirements; and -Development of evaluation and appraisal mechanism. 2. PRIMARY COMPONENTS- It includes a) NETWORK DESIGN-

-Number, size and location of facility network required to perform logistics operations; -Relationships among locational facilities; -Their cost and customer service capabilities; and -Infrastructure of each facility centre. b) TRANSPORTATION-

-Requirement, availability and regularity of the transport service; -Modes of transport and co-ordination between them; -Transport cost, freight and tariff -Fleet management; -Transit insurance and claim processing; -Time, speed and intact delivery; and -Point-to-point information pertaining to movement status c) INVENTORY MANAGEMENT-

-Stocking policies for raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods; -Zero-inventory, just-in-time, push-or-pull inventory strategies; -Inventory cost; -Product mix at stocking points; -Number, location and size of stocking points; and -Approach towards safety stock, reorder point and lot size d) ORDER PROCESSING -Order receiving and processing -Speedy order processing and transmission; -Order-inventory interface procedures; -Order and back-order systems -Warehouse picking and packing -Despatch scheduling -Point-to-point information pertaining to order status -Accurate, legal and required documentation; and -Order processing cost 3. SUPPORTIVE COMPONENTS- It includes a) MATERIALS HANDLING -Safe, smooth and speedy placing and positioning of goods to facilitate their movement and storage -Material handling equipment selection and replacement policies; -Storage and retrieval frequency of goods;

-Material handling equipment and operating costs; -Usual life and resale or scrap value of equipment. b) WAREHOUSING -location and configuration -Infrastructural facilities -Operational mechanism -Space determination -Goods placement

c) PROCUREMENT -Make or-buy decision; -Vendor selection and management; -Quality specification; -Supply schedule; -Vendor service capability; -Vendor-company relationship; -Vendor training and development; -Procurement cost. d) PROTECTIVE PACKAGING -Protection from loss and storage; -Design of package required for handling and storage; -Market value of the package; -Reuse of packages; -Scrap value of the package; and -Packaging cost. e) INFORMATION -Information requirement for logistic system; -Sources of data and their reliability; -DBMS for processing , analysis and storage; -Formats for information presentation to facilitate decision making; -Computer infrastructure (hardware, software and connectivity);and -Information cost. f) FORECASTING -Nature and trend of demand; -Elements of forecast; -Forecast technique and system; and -Administration and error. Q. 5. What are different modes of transport? Give comparison with suitable examples. Mode of transport (or means of transport or transport mode or transport modality or form of transport) is a term used to distinguish substantially different ways to perform transport. The most dominant modes of transport are aviation, land transport, which includes rail, road and off-road transport, and ship transport. Other modes also exist, including pipelines, cable transport, and space transport. Human-powered transport and animal-powered transport are sometimes regarded as their own mode, but these normally also fall into the other categories.

1. AIRA fixed-wing aircraft, typically airplane, is a heavier-than-air craft where the movement of the lift surfaces relative to the air generates lift. Agyroplane is both a fixed-wing and rotary-wing. Fixed-wing aircraft range from small trainers and recreational aircraft to large airliners and military cargo aircraft 2.RAILRail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail track, known as a railway or railroad. The rails are anchored perpendicular to railroad train consists of one or more connected vehicles that run on the rails. Propulsion is commonly provided by a locomotive, that hauls a series of unpowered cars, that can carry passengers or freight. 3. ROADA road is an identifiable route,through a city or village and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space easement and route.The most common road vehicle is the automobile; a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. Other users of roads include buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians

4 WATERWater transport is the process of transport that a watercraft, such as a barge, boat, ship or sailboat, makes over a body of water, such as a sea, ocean, lake, canal or river. If a boat or other vessel can successfully pass through a waterway it is known as a navigable waterway. 5. PIPELINE TRANSPORTPipeline transport sends goods through a pipe, most commonly liquid and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes can also send solid capsules using compressed air. For liquids/gases, any chemically stable liquid or gas can be sent through a pipeline. Short-distance systems exist for sewage, slurry, water and beer, while long-distance networks are used for petroleum and natural gas. 6. CABLE TRANSPORTCable transport is a broad mode where vehicles are pulled by cables instead of an internal power source. It is most commonly used at steep gradient. Typical solutions include aerial tramway, elevators, escalator and ski lifts; some of these are also categorized asconveyor transport. 7. SPACE TRANSPORTSpace transport is transport out of Earth's atmosphere into outer space by means of a spacecraft. While large amounts of research have gone into technology, it is rarely used except to put satellites into orbit, and conduct scientific experiments. However, man has landed on the moon, and probes have been sent to all the planets of the Solar System.

COMPARISN OF DIFFERENT MODES OF TRANSPORT-

Mode

Product Options

Speed

Accessibility

Cost

Capacity

Intermodal Capability

% of US Product Movement

Truck Railroad Air

Very Broad Moderate Broad Narrow Slow Fast

High Moderate Low

Moderate Low

Low Moderate

Very High Very High Moderate

28% 41% <1%

Very High Very Low

Water

Broad

Very Slow

Moderate

Very Low Very High

Very High

13%

Pipeline Very Narrow Very Slow

Low

Low

Very High

Very Low

17%

Digital

Very Narrow Very Fast

Very High

Very Low Moderate

Very Low

0%

Q. 6. What are the factors required for designing any distribution channel? Explain with examples.

1. MARKET CONSIDERATIONa) Type of market b) No of potential customers c) Geographic consideration of market d) Order size 2. PRODUCT CONSIDERATION a) Unit Value b) Perishability c) Technical nature of the product

3. MIDDLEMAN CONSIDERATION a) Services provided by middleman b) Availability of desired middleman c)Attitude of middleman towards producers policies 4. COMPANY CONSIDERATIONS a) Desired channel control b) Services provided by Seller c) Availability of management d) Financial resources