NEED FOR EFFICIENT PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION IN MARKETING OF A PRODUCT
ABSTRACT
The distribution of goods is very important to continuous survival of any company. Nevertheless, only few firms attach considerable importance on how best their products should be made available to the market. This study examines the various ways distribution will make a company’s product to get the final consumer and more over emphasized on the importance of distribution in a company. In view of this, the researcher adopted both the primary and secondary information. While primary information gives fresh information vital to this research work and constitutes administrated questionnaires, personal interview and data from Nigeria Bottling company P.L.C. The secondary information is from library and review of related works and text.
Therefore, this study will tend to analysis the general distribution facilities and obstacles that are encountered by most manufacturing company. From the analysis, the recommendation made on the study would therefore help in the enhancing the efficiency of physical distribution in marketing of a product in firms in general, particularly Nigeria Bottling Company plc.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Physical distribution according to Udoh C.M (2008:1) “Physical an integrated set of activities that deal with managing the movement of product within and outside firm through marketing channels”. Product itself according to Njemanze (2007 1-2) defined product as anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition or consumption; it include physical objects, services, personalities, places, organizations and ideas.
The manager responsible for physical distribution in a company like Nigeria bottling company must develop an efficient and effective means of moving various sized shipment of products by any of the various transportation agencies from the several sources of supply to an almost unlimited number of points of destination. The need for efficient physical distribution in marketing of a product shows the linkage between the producers and the consumer. In this regard, there are needs for efficient physical distribution so that goods or products can get to the consumers even at grassroots level.
Basically, the term marketing has two divergent but related processes and this should be taken note of. The first process deals with the search for and stimulation of buyers of materials or products while the process deals with physical distribution of product.
The Nigerian bottling company Owerri Plant is located at Owerri – Onitsha road . The company exists to benefit and refresh every one it touches. Established in 1886, the company is the worlds leading manufacturing, marketing and distributors of nonalcoholic beverage concentrate and syrups, used to produce nearly 400 beverage brands. Their corporate headquarters are in Atlanta with local operations in over 200 countries around the world. Many of their marketing products are soft drinks, fruit juices, bottled waters and sport drinks.
The company uses middlemen in distribution it’s products and at times,they sells directly to the customers/consumers especially when circumstance call for that market surveys, interviews and so on are used in collecting information from its distributors and consumers and these methods have been working for the company.
