Relationship between manufacturer and wholesaler

Manufacturer: Manufacturer is someone who transformed raw materials to finished products. The use of machines, tools and labour to produce goods for resale is the process of manufacturing. Raw materials are transformed into finished goods and sell it to consumers.

Wholesaler: Wholesaler is someone who provides goods except to the end users, which includes retailers, industrial, commercial, professional business users, or to other wholesalers.

Supplier: Supplier is someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity to consumers. Exchange relationship will occurs when something is obtained for something else in return. This is the process by which some transfer of value occurs between the buyer and seller.

Retailer: A retailer purchase products in small or large quantities from manufacturers or importers and then sells small quantities to the public or customers. Marketers see retailing as an important part of their overall distribution strategy.

Consumer: Consumer is an individual who buys products or services for personal use and not for manufacture or resale purpose. A consumer is someone who can make the decision whether or not to purchase an item and someone who can be influenced by marketing and advertisements. Anytime someone goes to a store and purchases goods or services, they are making that decision as a consumer.

( Michael R.Solomon, Greg W.Marshall, Elnora W.Stuart. (2008). Marketing:real people,real choices. New Jersey: Pearson Education LTD. )

The manufacturer supplies the product and the retailer sells it to end users. Retailers and wholesalers need each other. They should establish a great working relationship. Wholesalers benefit from retailers because they are just like their advertisement. A wholesaler needs to be able to provide order needs. Without retailers, wholesalers would not get any profit and not be able to get back their expenses if they didn’t sell their merchandise to retailers. Retailers benefit from wholesalers because they are someone who supply them something to sell. Supplier recognizes there are needs for goods or services and provides the means for the customer to have them.

( business.highbeam.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from business.highbeam: http://business.highbeam.com/138375/article-1G1-20611258/managing-promotion-program-participation-within-manufacturerretailer )

C:UsersGirlynDesktoprelationship marketing-technologysupply_chain_diagram.jpg

This diagram shows the relationship between manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, supplier and customers. (http://www.axtin.com/solutions/supply_chain.html)

Technology

Nowadays, a lot of technological changes have affected the marketing environment. Companies must learn to adapt to these changes in order to improve their marketing strategies. This has among other things resulted in an important on relationship marketing. A company can use different or various information technology tools when conducting business in order to gain better relationship with their customers. Besides that, technology has important effects on relational marketing operations. Technology has various benefits that help marketers to produce customer needs. Technological infrastructure affects the culture, efficiency, trade advantages and relationships of a business. Businesses use variety of equipments which highly relying on technology. The important of technology includes:

Better Communication

Technology change the way a firm’s communicate with customers. It is important for employees to interact with clients in today’s business world. When employees use technology to communicate with customers, it shows the good image and reputation of the firm.

Minimize Operation Problems

Technology also helps a business understand its current financial and operation problems and let business owners understand and learn the best way to manage the organization.

Better Culture for the business

Technology creates a better culture within a business. This is because employees at different locations have better communication. Technology often helps workers to communicate without any obstruct.

Under the protection

In today’s business, most of the businesses are subjected to new danger and potential threats. Technologies are used to protect the firm’s private and confidential information.

( eHow. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/about_6320228_technology-important-business_.html )

Relationship marketing more affordable & effective

New technology development

Greater demand for relationship marketing

IT Revolution

Marketing Evolution

Increased Competition

Changing Customers Virtuous Cycle between IT and Relationship Marketing

There is an inter-relationship between technology advances and the change in marketing paradigms toward relationship marketing. The spread of the relationship marketing approaches is in turn giving rise to the development of the technological innovations specifically geared toward improvements in relationship marketing. Technology has important effects on relational marketing operations. Technological infrastructure affects the culture, efficiency, trade advantages and relationships of a business.

Technology Evolution

It is important to understand the evolution of CRM technology for several reasons:

– Understanding the current methods will help ensure that marketing objectives are remained during migration.

– Understanding the current technology will help facilitate the tactical migration to different technology environments by reducing risks and identifying some steps in business methods.

– Technology solutions may be positioned so that the marketers may believe the implementation of technology is actually the CRM solution.

– Technical solutions in each phase of this evolution are not necessarily replaced by the rest of phases.

– We can learn much from understanding the evolution of CRM technology and avoid mistakes of technology and methods.

Marketing technology development phases

Mass Communication

Database Marketing

Integrated Marketing

Characteristics

– Lists

– offers

– creative program emphasis

– buy names

– data hygiene

– telemarketing

– households

– testing

– Individuals

– dialogue

– feedback

– Segmentation

– forecasting

– segment market research

– batch

– some real-time

– Channel enhancement

– service and quality management

– inventory control

– value chain evaluation

– media coordination

– production control

– individual market research

– distribution

– real-time

Measurement Methods

Programs

– Programs

– Models

– Life time value

– World-Of-Mouth

Customer/ prospect behaviour

Predict

– Predict

– Change

– Change

Technology

– Long lead time

– limited data

communication

– limited disk data storage capability

– strong relying on technology professionals for execution

– Data communication improving

– technology more advance

– still relying on technology professionals for execution but ability to self-execute growing

– Data communication very efficient

– data storage cheap and readily available

– greatly reduced relying on technology professionals for day to day but heavy reliance for technology planning

– overall costs decreasing

On-demand CRM systems are systems that control and host a company’s data on the server. The system is accessed through a web browser. All upgrade and IT support is handled by the hosting company.

The trend in technology

Many of the business corporations try to find out what technology will be most appropriate for the majority of customers. The question about on-demand solutions as a popular business platform has already been answered in many other industries that use on-demand solutions or subscription services versus purchasing software. The use of the web to connect to customers appears unavoidable as speed and accurate data recovery become essential elements of all businesses. In the next five years, we will see a real competition of CRM technologies as on-demand CRM seeks to expand its penetration beyond small to medium size companies and effectively serve large enterprise customers.

( Huson Joher, Stewart. (2009). Relastionship Marketing. United States: Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd. )