Channel levels:
The producer and the final customer are part of every channel. We will use the number of intermediary levels to designate the length of a channel.
1. Channel of distribution for consumer goods: as we know that a channel of distribution is the combination of middlemen that a company uses to move is products to the ultimate consumer. For the consumer products four channels are widely used as shown in figure below.
2. Zero level channel: a zero level channel (also called a direct marketing channel) consists of a manufacture selling directly to the final customer. The major examples are door to door sales home parties, mail order, tele marketing, TV selling, internet selling, and manufacture owned, stores. Eureka Forbes representativies sell vacuum cleaners door to door.
3. One level channel: a one level channel contains one selling intermediary such as a retailer.
4. two level channel: a two level channel contains three intermediaries. In the meat packing industry whole salers sell to jobbers who sell to small retailers. Longer marketing channels can be found in japan food distribution may involve as many as six levels. From the producers point of view obtaining information about end users and exercising control becomes more difficult as the number of channel levels increases.
5. Channel of distribution for services: the intangible nature of services creates special distribution requirements. There are only two common channels for services as shown in figure follow.
6. Channel of distribution for industrial products: An industrial goods manufacture can use its sales force to sell directly to industrial customers. It can sell to industrial distributors who sell to te industrial customers or it can sell through manufacture representatives or its own sales branches directly to industrial customers through industrial distributors. Zero one and two level marketing channels are quite common in industrial marketing channels.