Distributors have a unique position in the channel. They are the conduit for moving products from the manufacturer either directly or indirectly to the end customer. The stocking distributor or retailer not only plays a significant role in demand generation, but also reduces lead times by making products available close to, or directly at, the point of sale.
Industry-Specific Challenges
Distributors have their own unique set of challenges when dealing with both downstream resellers/end customers and upstream suppliers. These include:
- Downstream
- Managing marketing incentives such as MDF, co-op, volume incentive rebates and SPIFFs for resellers.
- Opportunity tracking via deal registrations.
- Upstream
- Calculating and making timely claims for upstream incentives from suppliers for various special pricing, inventory and marketing incentives they participate in.
- Providing channel POS and inventory data back to their suppliers in a variety of supplier-specified formats and protocols.
