Channels of Distribution

Channels of distribution are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the product is delivered to the consumer. This is by bridging the gap between the producer and the people who will use it, even if the parties are thousands of kilometers apart. The channels of distribution are categorized into three sections that enable facilitate this process. These are; the producer of the product, the consumer, and intermediaries who fall under wholesalers and retailers. Through the functions conducted within the channels such as; transactional functions: where there is the buying and selling and also the estimation and assumption of risk, logistical functions: where there is the assembly of products, storage, and sorting and eventually their transportation into designated markets, facilitating functions: where the financing and dissemination of information takes place and channel coordination and leadership, there is the smooth flow of the products to the customers and eventual compensation to the producers.
Comparison between brick and mortar and online retail strategies
Location and Marketing
The most convenient aspect of having a brick and mortar business is the presence of a physical location which enables the business to market itself as compared to an online business where you have to do vigorous marketing or else no one will know of the existence of your services or products. Also, having a physical address will boost the legitimacy of business.
Startup Costs
The brick and mortar business has higher startup costs as compared to an online business due to the rent and salaries if the business has employees.

Time
Owners of brick and mortar business usually spend more hours working particularly, in the beginning, hence not having enough time on their hands as compared to running an online business where you can work from home and thus save a lot of time to take part in other activities and projects.
Comparing advantages and disadvantages of the following promotional methods
Mass marketing
Has the advantage of reaching a large group of people and hence the potential for huge sales but it is pegged with the disadvantage of bringing losses in the event the product does not appeal to the masses as much because people have different needs and desires.
Direct Marketing
It has the advantage of being able to track responses from potential customers through campaigns and later using the data to scale up and invest in a bigger and expensive campaign. Setting aside the merits of this method, it also faces disadvantages such as; consumers complaining of the random and high volume of spam from companies, there is also a collection of low-quality leads and also the failure of having a high number of repeating clients.
Personal selling
It has the advantage of conveying more information to the customers and hence having a larger impact compared to other methods. Also, it has disadvantages, as the resources used, are enormous and hence makes the whole process expensive, and thus the sales representatives are limited to the number of customers they can reach.
Public relations
It has the power to appeal and also receive responses. Also, the cost of using the method can be controlled compared to other methods of advertising. Its disadvantages are that at the beginning, Public relations is hard to understand and implement and also the responses from the audiences are not predictable.
Digital Marketing
It has the following advantages; it is cheaper to conduct promotions on the internet, where you can reach a large number of people with no geographical barriers. It also comes with disadvantages where it is easy to have outdated information on the internet and also the competition is very high as many products are being marketed at the same time.
Evaluate the potential for new digital marketing techniques.
With the ever growing economy and advancement in technology, new digital marketing techniques are more likely to crop up. As businesses are thinking of new ways to deliver content to the audience in a way that is interesting and useful to them. They do more of listening to feedback and give responses while engaging with their audience.