Buying
People buy what they need. The
buying function includes determination of needs, selection of quality and
variety, deciding on brand, size and method of payment. Here buying means the
acquisition of goods and services by manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer for
the purpose of resale. The large business organizations may have purchase
department (experienced staff of buyers) which determines the needs of the
organization to buy product or raw material.
Selling
Selling is a part of
marketing. It refers to exchange of goods and services. It is often referred to
as the art of persuasion. It entails transfer of ownership of products to the
buyer. Building relationship with customers and convincing them to make
purchases is the heart of selling.
Selling determines the volume of firm’s profits. Sales can be boosted
through advertisement, publicity, sales promotion and personal selling. The sale of product can be taken place
through direct and indirect distribution channel.
Storage
Generally, when goods are
produced they are stored until they are demanded. It is important that
distribution centers should have adequate storage facility that can be leased.
Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers perform the function of storage. In
case of emergency, goods can be made available from the storage. The function
of storage enables an organization to achieve the economies of large scale
production. Storage creates time
utility. The time utility means that customers have access to product when they
demand it. The means of storage include shops, stores and warehouses.
Transportation
Transpiration is the physical
means by which the goods are moved from the place of production to the place of
consumption. It provides service of connecting a company to its suppliers and
customers. Transportation enhances the value of goods by creation of place
utility. The place utility suggests that customers have product available where
they demand it. The need of transportation is analyzed on the basis of product,
cost, and location of the target market. The marketing managers seeks to ensure
that the business have goods available where they are demanded. The means of transportation includes road,
sea, airline and pipeline.
Finance
Finance is considered the
lifeblood of any business. Without finance the business cannot survive. A
company must have sufficient finance to produce and advertise its product. The
finance deals with the methods of payment for goods and services delivered to
customers. Most of the goods are sold to wholesalers and retailers on credit
which leads to rendering financing services. It is necessary to budget for
marketing activities and obtain enough funds for operations. The source of
finance includes capital, loan and retain earnings.
Standardization and Grading
Producing goods at predetermined
specifications is standardization. It ensures the product size, color, design,
weight, safety, quality and quantity. Standardization creates uniformity.
Marketing managers periodically taste and evaluate the product based on
consumers’ feedback in order to meet standardization. On the other hand,
grading refers to the classification of products into different grades such as
grade A, grade B and grade C. Generally, products are classified on the basis
of quality. Thus, the marketers charge the price of grade A product higher than
the price of grade B and so on.
Market Information
Collecting and analyzing
market information is a crucial function of marketing. The information can be
collected from many sources like reviewing published market research reports
(secondary data), carrying out a survey, monitoring product review sites and
social media. In today’s world, the best platform is social media where
information can easily be found on consumer’s needs and attitudes toward
products and services. When information is gathered and analyzed, it helps the
organization to find out the best opportunities in the market.
Risk
Risk also is an essential
function of marketing. It should be considered and studied carefully. It may be
in the form of competition, fall in price, depression, obsolescence and
spoilage of goods, theft, fire, natural disasters and any other loss that may
occur. The process of assessing, identifying and managing risks is called risk
management. The risk management is an important part of any business which
helps to identify potential risks and recover from their impacts.
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