There is no doubt that the last decade has witnessed significant changes that have impacted people’s way of life as a result of rapid technological advancements and their incorporation into virtually everything people use today. Technologies such as equipment, vehicles, smartphones, smartwatches, and even human mentalities are reforming due to technological advancements. Corporates are forced to familiarize their functions to take the lead of the current technological abilities, which enable them to produce services and goods that attain the end-user requirements, wants, and gratification through augmentation networks. As an effect of the initiation of the new approaches that depend on current technology via different incremental intermissions from traditional networks, then market blend to finally impending Omnichannel, distribution network management has enhanced. The paper discusses how distribution channel management has become better in the last few years.
The traditional physical channel that is regarded as the downstream section starts with the manufacturer and carries on through distributors, wholesalers, and vendors to provide the final item to the end-user is being phased out. The consumer is regarded as the center of the whole circle (Nault & Rahman 2019). All participants perform their responsibilities to gain gratification through complex processes like warehousing management, forecasting, production management, inventory management, as well as logistics management.
The technology and its applications assisted the traditional physical distribution channel in implementing more efficient and effective strategies overall. For instance, radio-regularity identification can prompt up updating and gathering sales movement records at the theme of sale within hypermarkets. It results in more accurate data and indications that can be used to support more accurate data forecasting demand (Ali & Haseeb 2019). Unilever is a pioneer in the two applications of technology; within the 1980s, it generated its personal information technology interface scheme to track the motion of its inventory on the big-box shelves of retailers like Carrefour. This software package enabled the ordering administration to be mechanized while upholding security stock for a specified period.
After that, the rise of the internet and its widespread use was hailed as a boost to distribution management. It acted as a new revolution that had implications for every aspect of life, including business, education, and entertainment. That new, simple communication method has transformed the entire world into a small village, implying the ability to reach anyone, anywhere, at any time, and with great efficiency. The implications of the internet have had a positive impact on distribution channels. As an outcome, there is an allowance for quicker communication among channel affiliates, the gathering of up-to-date feedback and data from customers, and the alignment of requirements on the upstream side through selecting the best suitable, appropriate inventories and suppliers. The method to customers through electronic shopping, internet applications, as well as social network gates has also been upgraded.
The supply channel drew individuals to be virtually all of the stage by the modern communicated cohorts and android as a consequence of the new devices, like smartphones, that facilitated the mobility concept, which caused the idea of market mix foundation. The market mix combines different approaches that the distribution channel takes to reach the end-user. However, during the logistics, various techniques are involved for the end-user to receive the goods (Thabit & Raewf 2018). The methods such as traditional methods and electronic gates play a critical role in the distribution. They cause the end-user to get all new products and offers through the recent tendency to shopping electronically. Such is led by organizations such as the leading organization Amazon and traditional bricks and mortar market shopping. It is the Omni-channel notion that has materialized in recent years to solve the mystery of the discrepancy among traditional supply networks and electronic channels. Besides, it has helped attain the specific goal of fitting in all the prevailing networks to approach the client-facing the previously mentioned divergence.
The channel functions are implemented using an Omnichannel approach. Physical possession, ownership, promotion, negotiation, risk, ordering, payment, finance, and information sharing are some of the functions that must be performed in a balanced manner across all available channels. Furthermore, the transfer of the cross functions from one member to another may occur, but the removal may not occur. In contrast, they are all integrated through channel design, followed by channel management, to achieve the desired strategy (Kembro & Norrman 2019). However, technology has an impact on distribution channel management, but every organization is also changing its strategy.
Therefore, the type of production plays a critical role in the changing of distribution strategy. As a result, whether tangible such as goods or intangible such as services, outputs services, global environmental conditions, and the economic situation in the United States or abroad significantly affect the distribution strategy. As a rule of thumb, the service outputs vary from organization to organization. For example, Samsung produces various products such as smartphones, televisions, labs, and cameras. On the other hand, McDonald’s makes quick delivery; for example, financial technology companies provide spatial convenience; or for example, education online provides information sharing; for example, Samsung produces smartphones.
The organization’s strategies have changed constantly over the last few years as a result of a variety of factors. The factors such as cost leadership principles, based on the lean approach, played a significant role. In addition to that, the agile concept, differentiation concept, and innovation for various consumer categories affected the organization’s strategy. The reduction of humans in the system of distribution channels across all types of strategies with increased usage of automated machines linked to the internet has eventually transformed the distribution industry. It has resulted in the development of virtual intelligence and the constant crystal-clear trends in all systems and strategies. All of the new trends emerged due to the consideration of how to treat the end-user as a partner and how to provide the appropriate level of convenience to increase customer engagement.
Therefore, organizations are using robots and new inventions in distribution management. Many businesses are now taking it upon themselves to use robots and new inventions in their operational issues to improve accuracy, reduce time, increase safety, and increase efficiency. For example, Amazon uses robots in their warehouses and drowns to deliver fast food to customers. Aside from that, the distribution industry is embracing Digitization as well. As a result of digital transformation, customers increasingly utilize services, particularly transportation, through digital platforms (Nam et al., 2021). This implies that clients will initiate and deal with their procedures in dissimilar conditions through an immense digital podium recognized as the blockchain that will permit them to digitally regulate and obtain their necessities. Third, organizations are increasingly attempting to reduce the human factor and replace it with virtual intelligence to reduce human errors and perform better due to technological advancement. Due to this, it is now obvious that many businesses use Chat Pot, which allows them to respond to customers and provide them with feedback and advice in a short period of time.
Finally, live interviews, which are a new trend in the industry, are critical in managing the distribution channel. Its accessibility to all online users through social media applications such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and other similar applications is a significant advantage (Ampountolas et al. 2019). In addition to being a type of electronic promotion and a method of offering products, the live interview is also an essential method of interactively building relationships with end-users. The live conversation with the consumers allows them to learn more clarification ideas, product specifications, and degree of quality by answering questions from customers and explaining all of their requests (Cai et al., 2020). Customers are able to judge the product as a primer perception, and they express an interest in other company products, according to live interviews with the customer service representatives.
Thus, distribution management is essential to the operation of any organization’s supply chain. The goal of distribution management is to guarantee that the appropriate product reaches the right person at the right time while using the most cost-effective transport networks possible. Logistics and supply chain management services ensure that products and services are delivered in a timely manner to the different parties engaged in the value chain, including manufacturers. As a consequence of growing trends such as new delivery methods, technological advancements, and process automation, among others, the dynamic and ever-changing market sector for distribution services is poised to see unprecedented development.
References
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Ampountolas, A., Shaw, G., & James, S. (2019). The role of social media as a distribution channel for promoting pricing strategies. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights.
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Kembro, J., & Norrman, A. (2019). Exploring trends, implications and challenges for logistics information systems in omni-channels: Swedish retailers’ perception. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
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Thabit, T., & Raewf, M. (2018). The evaluation of marketing mix elements: A case study. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 4(4).