Nowadays a distribution strategy is part of the DNA of many companies and a correct channel management is key for the success of your product. Distribution plans need to be prepared for the long run, combining the following main areas: company profile, portfolio structure and price positioning, go-to-market policy, trade and retail marketing, e-commerce and global retail management. In the last decade, there have been two main revolutions that have affected industries, increasing the importance of Distribution Channel Management: • The IT revolution: considering developments in CRM, supply chain, planning tools, merchandise and reallocation systems, amongst others. • The retail focus: a clear retail strategy can be a differentiator for companies and a strong weapon of competitiveness. Stay up-to-date on how companies are adding these aspects to their main strategic guidelines and making them key points in their managerial decision-making process.
Expert Interview: Maria Garcia, General Manager of Office Depot Iberia
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来自 IE Business School 的课程
Channel Management and Retailing
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从本节课中
Distribution Channels and Their Evolving Landscape
At the end of this module you will be able to distinguish the various types of distribution channels and conflicts that arise among them, as well as ways to combat these conflicts. You will also understand the current nature, structure, key players, and future of trade marketing.
与讲师见面
Maria Teresa AranzabalProfessor
Marketing
[MUSIC]
Hi, as you see, we are in Office Depot.
They distribute office material.
We are inside their warehouse.
And we are going to be very lucky, because today we are going to see the process,
from where all the material is warehoused, how the picking process is done,
how they prepare the packages, and finally how it's distributed.
I hope you really enjoy what we are going to see today.
[MUSIC]
Hi, Maria, thank you for receiving us here.
>> Hi, welcome, Coursera.
>> Okay, I want to ask you, Maria,
what does Office Depot do and what's your role in this company?
>> Okay, Office Depot is a multinational.
We operate in 59 countries.
We basically deliver any products that companies need for their own functioning.
So we started with office supplies, but we have been incorporating
technology and different marketing solutions in order to tend the market.
>> And your role is, in this company?
>> I'm the general manager for Spain and Portugal.
As any multinational, we have a lot of cross-functional roles.
Most of our teams are relying on some functions
that cross throughout Europe or America, like human resources or logistics.
My main job is sales.
>> Okay, that's fantastic.
So how many distribution channels do you use in general?
>> Okay, we have four.
So we have a direct channel divided in two.
We go to large accounts, international accounts, public sector.
Then we have a subdivision of that, which is regional for mid-market companies.
>> Okay.
>> We also have an online channel which comes from a direct channel where we
first went to the market with catalogues.
And we also have retail in some countries.
We don't have it in Spain, but we have about 2,200 stores throughout the world.
>> And what factors are key for
you when you start thinking about designing a channel strategy?
>> So the most important thing is really trying to understand the client.
We need to address what the client needs and then tailor our offering,
our way to contact them, according to what they need.
So in many large accounts we need a key account coordinating that
all of their services are done.
Where online, where we don't have a presential meeting on a day-to-day
basis with that account, in remote we can detect all their needs and
deliver exactly the service that the client is expecting.
>> I guess in this sector, trade marketing is important for you.
So how do you handle it?
Do you use it a lot?
And in the organizational structure where do you position it?
>> It's quite important for us.
We are a channel that represents our OEMs, our manufacturers.
So we work under the umbrella of a category manager.
Within some companies you might call that merchandising or purchasing.
We call them category managers because they define the strategy for us, as to how
we will go to the market with a specific line of products or specific solutions.
So we will work with 3M, for example, or HP, and in that conversation
a category manager will talk about trade marketing as one more tool for
us to deliver the service or solution to the client.
>> Okay.
>> We also have a marketing department, and a marketing department works in
parallel to that because that represents our channel view.
>> Okay. >> So the marketing department takes into
account whatever the category manager has devised, but
it has a broader option by channel for a specific segment.
>> And sales is also independent.
It's another department.
>> Yes, we have a sales manager that relies
on what the category managers are devising, and
is relying on the support that marketing is activating for them to go out and sell.
>> Fantastic.
And could you share with us a success story that you had in trade marketing?
>> Lots of successes, otherwise we wouldn't be as successful.
>> You had failures as well, because we can learn.
>> Yes, of course.
We have to learn every single day.
Perhaps I would just comment that any campaign where we've been able to
listen to our customers.
Most of the time we do that through listening to our sales people.
So when we've been able to capture what the client needs
through our sales people and engage our manufacturers in that same conversation,
that's when we've been successful.
So a lot of times, rather than just think up in a closed
room of a specific promotion or an advantage for the client, if
we include everybody in the conversation, that's when we're successful.
The other good important thing is that we need to react fast.
If it doesn't work, we have to change it.
Learn from it, but change it.
>> What’s your opinion about using Internet?
How important is it becoming this omni-channel strategy that we hear so
much about?
>> So Internet's very important for us.
We're the number five, I think,
e-tailer when you look at North America on how clients look at our products.
So Office Depot has done a good job in having a presence online, but
it's not the solution for everything.
It's good for us because we have a such a broad assortment of products that
getting all the detailed technical specifications on our products,
that really is facilitated by the Internet.
But it doesn't solve the type of listening, the solutions that we
need to bring on to clients as we define how to work our products,
how to work our printing, our marketing communications.
Some of those things are not captured just by an online approach,
so we need to combine both things.
>> And just to finalize, since we are here now in your warehouses,
could you explain to us very briefly what are the main steps, the
order followed up here in your logistic system?
>> So in here we have both receiving and delivery.
So we receive all of our products here.
We take great care in measuring, so that we can rely on statistics and
data in order to be more efficient.
But everything that comes in is measured so
that we can estimate the volume as it goes out the door.
As we capture orders every day, we have a commitment to our clients of 24 hours,
and our boxes, which are automatically made and configured,
travel through our conveyor belt.
They are receiving all of the products that conformed that order and
automatically through bar codes and the way we shoot
each product to the client that they can have them in 24 hours.
>> So I will receive it tomorrow or in 24 hours.
I want to thank you, Maria,
because I think it's been very interesting what you have shared with us.
And also I have learned how important it is to keep in mind what
the consumer wants and also that we need to give them solutions,
not to offer them only products.
And we have also seen the importance now of the speed and
the technology now in this world.
Thank you very much, Maria.
>> You're welcome.
[MUSIC]
>> It's a pity but we are finishing.
I hope you really enjoyed the fantastic interview we had with Maria Garcia,
the general manager of Office Depot in Spain, and
the fantastic opportunity we had to be in the warehouse offices of Office Depot,
to understand how the logistic process works.
See you very soon.
[MUSIC]
