VAE 511: Livestock Entrepreneurship (1+0)

RETAIL MARKETING

• Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, egg shop, meat shop, or by post, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.
  • Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses / organisations (Institutional Buyers).
• In commerce , a 'retailer' buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user.
• Retailers are at the end of the supply chain.
• Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy.
• The term 'retailer' is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as a public utility, like electric power.

Marketing Channel

• Marketing channel is defined as a path through which a product moves from producer's farm gate to consumer plate.Marketing of agri and livestock commodities is different from manufactured or industrial goods. Most of the agri / livestock products are perishable in nature and the period of perishability varies from a few hours to few months. Most of the farmers are landless , marginal or small . Therefore the produce of individual is very less. Lastly, most of the farm products are processed before they are used, purchased and consumed by the ultimate consumers.
• Selling of perishable products like fruits, vegetables, and livestock products (milk, meat, and egg) require fast movement of the commodities from the producers to the ultimate consumers. Marketing channel can be defined as a path through which product moves from producer to consumer. Hence, a short channel of distribution will be an effective tool to reach the target consumers. However, distribution of products having lower unit value and high turn over like eggs involves a large number of middlemen.
• The channels of distribution serve as a network, which creates value for the consumer by generating possession, time and place utilities. There are number of middleman and merchants, including Government and co-operative agencies, who act as links between the producers and consumers.

The possible visible channels of distribution for Milk is given below: