introduction

lets start up with the introduction to the topic.
the topic can be divided into 2 major parts:
1. sales management
2. distribution management
Let me discuss sales management initially. This basically refers to the direct selling. The major functions it involves is of analysing,planning,organising, directing and controlling of the whole sales force for an organization.
On the other hand, distribution management is further divided into two parts:
indirect selling
physical distribution
Indirect selling means selling been done with the help of various channels such as dealers, distributors, agents etc while physical distribution refers to the process of movement of merchandise from one place to other like the movement that takes place from the factory i.e. the place of origin of the merchandise to the final end customer for that product.

Now let me explain the thin line of difference that exists between a customer, consumer and a buyer.
A buyer is a person who buys any brand of product just because he needs to buy it. For e.g. A person ‘A’ go to a shop and asks for a bathing soap. Here this person ‘A’, is not affected and is least interested to decide upon which brand will he be interested in using. On the other hand, a customer is brand centric. He will always take care of which brand he purchases. For e.g., Mr. B went to the shop & asked for a Cinthol bathing soap. In this case, he is very much conscious of the brand of merchandise he purchases.
A customer is a person who purchases the merchandise irrespective of the fact that he is the end user or not. While, a consumer is a person who actually consumes the merchandise.

priyanka