Abstract

A distribution channel is an important decision for companies to make to ensure that company’s products will reach customers most effectively.

This study investigated the effect of distribution channels on the brassieres products in Bafoussam.

It seeks to examine the effect of distribution channels on sales, specifically; it sought to determine whether pesticides actually meet customers’ demand and to examine the functions of intermediaries on the consumption of pesticides in Bafoussam.

The data of this study was collected through two sources, namely; the primary and secondary sources. However, questionnaires formed the major instruments of data collection in this study. The convenient sampling method was used to select respondents for the study.

In effect, 55 respondents and 20 management staff were sampled. Data gathered was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).

The hypothesis was tested using Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient which shows the relationship that exist between distribution channels and the sales of brassieres products in Bafoussam.

Thus, the results show After testing the research hypothesis, shows the correlation between the two variables. From the table, the asymptotic significance (2-tailed) is read at 0.000, and the Pearson Moment Correlation index is 0.742.

The value of the asymptotic significance which is significantly less than the p-value of 0.05 shows that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternate accepted. This means therefore that Distribution channels have a significant effect on the sales of Les Brasseries Du Cameroun products. The Pearson index shows that the relationship is positive and strong.

The findings of the study revealed that distribution channels significantly have a positive effect on the brassieres products in Bafoussam.

Hence, rejecting the null hypothesis. Furthermore, the researchers finally recommend that Opportunities should be given to the retailers and wholesalers of Brasseries products to be able to place orders for the Brasseries products through phone calls.

This is because if they have shortage of the products when it is not up to their own supply day they will not have the products except the give a command or go to the depot and buy, hence placing order through phone calls is going to facilitate sale delivery.

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

The starting point of this work is the term distribution and its meaning. Distribution channels are defined and classified. Their development is explained and new possibilities of their development in contemporary conditions are indicated.

In this sense, a variety of distribution channels exists, as well as the contemporary understanding of managing supply chains and value creation networks.

The distribution of products constitutes an important element of the marketing mix of a firm. It is an activity of marketing discipline carried out by many enterprises.

After the development of the product, the entrepreneur has to decide the channels or routes through which the product will follow from the factory to the potential customers.

He has several alternatives available to him. The entrepreneur may choose to distribute the product directly to customers without using any intermediaries. Alternatively, he may use one or more middlemen including wholesalers, selling agents, and retailers.

To be successful in today’s competitive marketplace, people in business realize that they must first determine people’s needs and wants, and then produce goods and services to satisfy them.

Those that are involved in the distribution of “Les Brasseries du Cameroun”   are the sales force.

It is not however enough for a business to produce what the market requires but for it to be able to build long-lasting relationships with its target markets. A major issue in an organization’s relationship marketing program is the role of the sales force. Firms use salespeople in many ways. An organization’s salespeople can help ensure that the organization’s service standards are higher than customers’ expectations.

Relationship marketing and the marketing concept are based on the philosophy of being customer-oriented. Organizations following this philosophy rely on their sales personnel to help implement customer contact programs.

Distributors sell customers products; when customers are unhappy, the salespersons take care of the problems. Salespeople are in direct contact with customers.

Those who help customers find the right product to satisfy their particular requirements are providing good service. Salespeople who are knowledgeable, who listen well and come up with answers, and who stand by their customers after the sales are made are providing good service. Sales and service are inseparable.

Even though personal selling has been seen to perform a very vital role in the success of an organization today, the promotional method of selling is costly. The high cost is due to the expense of developing and operating a sales force.

Yet this drawback is compensated for by salespeople being able to contact specific individuals. Studying our environment, we would understand that business transactions have become more and more complex.

Thus, personal selling today requires different strategies than salespeople practiced in the past. Although the traditional methods of selling one-to-one are gaining popularity, salespeople may need to sell to teams of corporate representatives called decision-making units.

Modern techniques have been devised to reach or meet up with expectations of the market. Today, we no longer talk only of relationship selling, but also of consultative selling, sales force cultivation, and team selling amongst them.

Team selling and relationship selling are common practices with brewery products.

Nowadays, marketing channels that provide the institutional structure that connects firms to the markets they serve have not escaped the global environment.

On the contrary, in today’s world, marketing channel structure and strategy must be formulated in the context of globalization (Rosenbloom & Larsen, 2008).

Thus, managers responsible for developing and managing the distribution channels that make products and services available to literally billions of customers around the world face a more complex challenge than the previous generation of channel managers.

Not only do today’s channel managers need to think globally, but they must also act locally in terms of providing the appropriate array of channels desired by heterogeneous markets all over the world (Rosenbloom, 2010).

1.2 Problem statement

After analyzing the system of distribution of many enterprises during internships, we realized that these enterprises produce goods and services and do not know how to distribute the products produced, which distribution channels to use in such a way that the enterprise can reach customers and realize profits.

They do not know the appropriate techniques to apply. This situation happened since the industrial revolution where enterprises concentrated their activities only on mass production without taking into consideration the needs and wants of the customers before production and after production. 

Distribution channels facilitate the movement of commodities from the manufacturer to the final consumers. Though very costly, the company still puts more money into it, uses the best strategies but still at times some products and brands are not found in the market and this is a result of inefficiency in the distribution channels.

There is a saying that production is complete only when the product gets to the final consumer and this is made possible only through the process of distribution.

The organization has to use an intensive distribution strategy that is where the producer’s products are stocked in the majority of outlets and also expands its distribution channels as well as salespeople to make sure that its products get to the end-users.

Organizations have to understand that without distribution, the production of goods and services is useless because the product which they produce will not be able to reach the final consumers of which these products are intended to satisfy and as a result, this may affect the performance of the organization.

Besides the problem of inefficiency, there equally exist the problems of road networks especially from the urban areas to the rural areas where the roads are not reachable and this makes it difficult for products to reach the consumers.

To this effect, the consumers are unable to get regular supplies because of poor transport conditions. Also, “Les Brasseries du Cameroun”   does not distribute its products rationally in the sense that they overvalue the bigger buyers and look down on small buyers. 

So we are going to analyze during our project which channel of distribution is appropriate and good for its system of distribution after many investigations.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

1.3.1 General Objective

The general objective of this study is to examine the role of distribution channels on the sales of Brasseries products in Bamenda

1.3.2 Specifics Objectives

Our specifies objectives are:

• Identify the different distribution channels that exist for the distribution of Brasseries products.
• Determine the extent to which the different distribution channels affect the marketing of Brasseries products.
• Explore the marketing strategies used at various stages of the distribution channels.
• Identify the extent to which the absence of distribution channels affects Brasseries products.

1.4 Research Questions

Here, we are going to formulate questions that will help us to answer the research problem. Research questions are those questions asked to locate answers to the research problem.

The research question is usually broken down into specifics which can covert the problem to the question in such a way that they are verifiable.

Usually, the problem statement arranged in question form constitutes the research question. These questions are the following:

• What are the different distribution channels that exist for the distribution of Brasseries products?
• To what extent do the different distribution channels affect the marketing of Brasseries products?
• What are the marketing strategies used at various stages of the distribution channels?
• To what extent does the absence of distribution channels affect the distribution of Brasseries products?