The marketing of shopping goods from manufacturer to retailer differ in several important respects from the marketing of convenience goods. Since the consumers make their comparisons in more than one store before buying, stores handling shopping goods tend to congregate in shopping centers. The manufacturer must distribute his goods at retail largely by stores located in shopping centers. By locating the store in the shopping center, a retailer puts his customers to less inconvenience in the process of comparison.
A large percentage of shopping goods is sold directly from the manufacturer to the retailer without the aid of a separate wholesaler. The manufacturer finds it desirable to by-pass wholesalers. This is because the retailer wishes to examine the samples before purchasing and the manufacturer also wants to keep close touch with what he is selling and what he is not selling in the retail market.
The retailer of shopping goods assortment even within a store because the consumer wishes to compare the products not only in the offerings of the different stores but different varieties of the same product within the same store. Different assortments from those or the manufacturer’s competitors should also be carried by the retailer in order to lend the store a distinctiveness. This broadens the field of choice of the buyer. The retailer must exercise great care in stocking only goods which will wanted by the customers of his particular store.
The manufacturer must often see that his products are offered in the stores best suited to handle his price lines and as much he may find it desirable to rely upon some form of exclusive agency.In shopping goods the manufacturer does not not usually carries promotional activities. He depends upon the retailer for advertising. The retailer assumes a good part of the advertising, displaying and selling costs. Most of the advertising of shopping goods is placed in newspapers.
