Executive Summary

 Summary of the market – The company Marico with a tagline ‘Make a

Difference’ is the parent company of Marico Innovation Foundation under
which I did my Internship of 2 months as a Health Advisor and Sales
Trainee. We worked on new product development on two new product
range i.e. Saffola Fittify and Coco Soul, both are healthy gourmet breakfast
to dinner range.
 Opportunity – I did my internship in three different stores to identify the
marketing opportunities like target customers, to understand customer
habits and needs, competitor’s strategies, customer’s perception what they
most/least like about existing product. The purpose of all this was to find
market opportunities.
 Product Pricing – The company Marico used the strategy of price
SKIMMING i.e. the products had high pricing compared to their
competitors.
Various products of Saffola Fittify and coco soul range are:
1. High Protein Meal Shake – 420g for Rs 1190
2. High Protein Meal Soup- 85g for Rs 99
3. Quinoa Upma & Poha – 50g for Rs 49
4. Millet Upma & Poha – 50g for Rs 29
5. Green Tea – 15 tea bags for Rs 220
6. Green Coffee – 15 sachets for Rs 260
7. Coconut Oil – 250 ml for Rs 230
8. Coconut Sugar – 200 g for Rs 399
 Distribution – Marico used the Drop Shipping Distribution. In this the
department manager fill the indent (once in 3 days) according to our
requirement online and the company sends the product, is received by the
employees after the GRN is done and is placed on the shelfs as per the
requirement.
 Promotional Programs – To retain the customers for the new product
various promotional activities were done. Few of them like trying the free
samples of the product at premium malls and giving them for the first time
use, a social page is being made for the customers to share their experience
 of the product by uploading a video online. Offers were made available for
the first few weeks. Various celebrities tried the product and gave their
views online which helped us to fetch the customers.

Marico Distribution Network

Marico's distribution width and penetration is acknowledged as one of the best in the industry and
is a leverageable strength.
Every month, 56 million consumer packs are sold to about 1.8 million households through 1.6
million retail outlets spread across the country.
Marico's distribution network covers almost every Indian town with a population of over 20,000.
The chart below depicts Marico's distribution network in the urban & rural markets:

Thus, 1 out of every 10 Indians is a Marico consumer.

Distribution Alliance:
Our distribution strength has been recognised by Indo Nissin Foods Ltd. through their association
with us for the distribution of Top Ramen products on a national basis.

Rural Sales & Distribution:

Marico's parallel rural sales and distribution network ranks among the top three in the industry and
contributes 24% to the company's topline.

Their infrastructure comprises 882 direct distributors, 153 super distributors, catering to 2393
small stockists and 4523 van markets. A dedicated team of Territory Sales Executives and Pilot
Sales Representatives distribute Marico's as well as alliance brands through this vibrant network.

Sales Capacity:
They have made significant progress in the areas that enhance sales capacity. Quality of our
distributors Quality and number of the distributor field force Upgradation in the role of the
company's front-line sales force.

Technology (IT) in Sales:

Marico has been making investments in IT to ensure:
Supply Chain efficiencies
Availability of the SKU at the right distributor point,
at the right time in right quantities
Timely availability and reliability of Sales
MIS, which help in taking prudent decisions on a real time basis.

In order to reap maximum benefits from its sales and distribution network, Marico embarked on an
internet-enabled application - MI-Net - to establish a network between Marico and its distributors
through a web interface. This project is aimed at providing real time information on the status of
various business operations between Marico and its distributors. This initiative is expected to
provide business benefits in the form of increased penetration by the sales force, reduced
communication costs, reduced working capital requirements, etc. The project went live on April
1, 2002 with connectivity to 330 urban distributors, who together account for about 3/4th of
Marico's domestic turnover. The business benefits are expected to accrue over a period of time.

Marico's Distribution Network:

Marico's distribution width and penetration is acknowledged as
one of the best in the industry and is a leverageable strength.
Every month, 46 million consumer packs are sold to about 1.8
million households through 1.7 million retail outlets spread
across the country. Marico's distribution network covers almost
every Indian town with a population of over 20,000. The chart
below depicts Marico's distribution network in the urban &
rural markets:

With such a penetrated presence, it is not surprising that 1 out of every 10

Indians is a Marico consumer.

Distribution Alliance:
Our distribution strength has been recognised by Indo Nissin Foods Ltd. through
their association with us for the distribution of Top Ramen products on a national
basis.

Rural Sales & Distribution:

 Marico's parallel rural sales and distribution network ranks among the
top three in the industry and contributes 24% to the company's topline.
 Our infrastructure comprises more than 115 super distributors, catering
to 2600 small stockists and 9000 van markets.
 A dedicated team of Territory Sales Executives and Pilot Sales
Representatives distribute Marico's as well as alliance brands through
this vibrant network.
Alternate Channels:

 The company has made a significant movement in creating the

infrastructure for a Direct to Home operation in select cities.
 We have taken the lead in establishing a superior quality of relationships
with supermarket chains.

Sales Capacity:
We have made significant progress in the areas that enhance sales capacity.

 Quality of our distributors

 Quality and number of the distributor field force
 Upgradation in the role of the company's front-line sales force.

Training:
Marico believes in investing in the training and development of its field force for:

 Regularly upgrading skill sets.

 Providing an understanding for leadership enhancement

Information Technology
(IT) in Sales:
Marico has been making
investments in IT to ensure:

 Supply Chain
efficiencies
 Availability of the
SKU at the right
distributor point, at
the right time in right
quantities
 Timely availability
and reliability of
Sales MIS, which
help in taking
prudent decisions on
a real time basis.

In order to reap maximum

benefits from its sales and
distribution network, Marico
embarked on an internet-
enabled application - MI-
Net - to establish a network
between Marico and its
distributors through a web
interface. This project is
aimed at providing real time
information on the status of
various business operations
between Marico and its
distributors. This initiative is
expected to provide business
benefits in the form of
increased penetration by the
sales force, reduced
communication costs, reduced
 working capital requirements,
etc. The project went live on
April 1, 2002 with connectivity
to 330 urban distributors, who
together account for about
3/4th of Marico's domestic
turnover. The business
benefits are expected to
accrue over a period of time.

How we
are
pioneering
distributio
n models
of the
future
The Company’s
Go-To-Market
strategy has
focused on
improving the
width and depth
of its
distribution –
both direct and
wholesale.
Strategic
initiatives in
sales and supply
chain have
ushered in
efficiencies in
selling and go-
to-market.
PROMOTING
SUSTAINABLE
DISTRIBUTOR
RELATIONSHIP
WITH
INTEGRATED
SALES ROUTE
OPTIMISATION
(ISRO)

For long, sales route and

beat design for Distributor
Sales Representatives
(DSRs) were made
manually, leading to
inefficiencies in the
geographical cluster.
Sometimes this could
result in the same location
being visited by both the
weekly (those having 25
outlets per day, with each
outlet being serviced once
a week) and fortnightly
(those having 35 outlets
per day, with fortnightly
service frequency) DSRs,
leading to inefficiencies
and higher transit time
between outlets.

With ISRO this process

was automated based on
historical data and
algorithm-based solutions,
helping enhance cost-to-
serve efficiencies through
route optimisation.

We have successfully used

geotagging and analytics
for route optimisation and
extended it to 26
distributors across 8 cities,
which enables coverage of
more outlets with lesser
manpower. This efficiency
in sales beats helped
reduce manpower by 13%,
which has been
redeployed.
INFORMATION ON
THE FINGERTIPS
WITH TERRITORY
SALES MOBILE
APPLICATION

The territory sales officers

and executives (TSO and
TSE) at Marico play a
major role in generating
sales and revenue. They
are constantly on the move
across urban and rural
markets ensuring business
growth. To help them get
the right information at the
right time, we introduced
the TSOE mobile
application.

This app has a new module

that generates a Permanent
Journey Plan based on an
algorithm that takes into
consideration the
performance of key sales
metrics. It has all the
important dashboards
enabling territory sales
representatives to get real-
time status of the business
in their areas. The app has
also been integrated with
the Field Force
Assessment application
which empowers
employees to take better
decisions and helps build
capabilities. It has also
automated the assessment
process for the field force.
1,800+ urban field force
were assessed via this end-
to-end in-house assessment
app with better control and
faster turnaround time.
DRIVING
RETAILER
INTELLIGENCE
AND ANALYTICS

Started in Bengaluru in
2015, RETINA (Retailer
Intelligence & Analytics),
a recommendation engine
has been deployed across
13 cities. It helps the
Distributor Sales
Representative to identify
and focus on the next best
Stock Keeping Units
(SKU) by suggesting
relevant Stock Keeping
Units (SKU) and brands
that have been on the shelf
for more than 12 months at
an outlet. This simplifies
the job of the DSRs on
each call and increases
their productivity.
FAST-TRACKING
THE DIGITAL
MARKETPLACE
WITH E-
COMMERCE
Following an upward
growth trajectory, the e-
commerce industry has
transformed the way
business is done in India.
Having forayed into this
space in 2016, Marico has
identified e-commerce as
one of its key focus areas
in terms of its distribution
channels. With dedicated
efforts to scale up, the e-
commerce business has
grown 4 times over in the
last one year. Currently, e-
commerce contributes over
1% to the Company’s
domestic business. In some
personal care portfolios,
the contribution of e-
commerce has been
recorded to be as high as
33%. The Company plans
to launch a range of
dedicated premium
products across categories,
which may be digital only
or digital-first only
portfolios.

The Company has

identified specific channel
partners across beauty,
food and groceries
segments to help scale our
e-commerce business.

The e-commerce business

is expected to contribute
~2% of Marico's domestic
turnover in FY19.
ENCOURAGING
CROSS
POLLINATION OF
BEST SALES
PRACTICES
ACROSS
DIFFERENT
MARKETS

After successful
integration of the
automated order
management system in
India, we took this best
practice to Bangladesh.
The sales ordering process
was rendered seamless
with the help of Order
Management, Midas Pro
and General Trade
Personal Device Assistants
(PDAs) in the local
language.

Midas Pro was designed to

achieve time-effectiveness
by reducing manual
interventions in data
management, incentives,
schemes etc., thereby
leading to better
efficiencies such as faster
claim processing and quick
order-to-bill process
among others.

The order management

application automates and
controls the primary sales
process which was manual
until last year leading to
delayed dispatches. This
transformation has ensured
process-efficiency in the
system along with more
time bandwidth for the
sales team.

The Order Management

Project has been rolled out
across 55 distributors of
Dhaka Depot in Marico
Bangladesh, enhancing
operational efficiency
across front-end functions
and providing a
competitive advantage for
Marico.

Acc to Investopedia

Distribution
Channel
REVIEWED BY WILL
KENTON

Updated Apr 14, 2019

What Is a Distribution
Channel?
A distribution channel
is a chain of
businesses or
intermediaries through
which a good or
service passes until it
reaches the final buyer
or the end consumer.
Distribution channels
can
include wholesalers,
retailers, distributors,
and even the Internet.

Distribution channels
are part of the
downstream process,
answering the
question "How do we
get our product to the
consumer?" This is in
contrast to the
upstream process,
also known as the
supply chain, which
answers the question
"Who are our
suppliers?"

A distribution channel,
also known as
placement, is part of a
company's marketing
strategy, which
includes product,
promotion, and price.
Understanding
Distribution Channels
A distribution channel
is the path by which all
goods and services
must travel to arrive at
the intended
consumer.
Conversely, it
also describes the
pathway payments
make from the end
consumer to the
original vendor.
Distribution channels
can be short or
long, and depend on
the amount of
intermediaries
required to deliver a
product or service.

Goods and
services sometimes
make their way to
consumers through
multiple channels—a
combination of short
and long. Increasing
the number of ways a
consumer is able to
find a good can
increase sales. But it
can also create a
complex system that
sometimes
makes distribution
management difficult.
Longer distribution
channels can also
mean less profit each
intermediary charges
a manufacturer for its
service.

Channels are broken

into two different
forms—direct and
indirect.
A direct channel
allows the consumer
to make purchases
from the manufacturer
while an indirect
channel allows the
consumer to buy the
good from a
wholesaler or retailer.
Indirect channels are
typical for goods that
are sold in traditional
brick-and-mortar
stores.

Generally, if there are

more intermediaries
involved in the
distribution channel,
the price for a good
may increase.
Conversely, a direct or
short channel may
mean lower costs for
consumers because
they are buying
directly from the
manufacturer.

Volume 75%

1:39

Distribution Channel

Types of Distribution
Channels
While a distribution
channel may seem
endless at times, there
are three main types
of channels, all of
which include the
combination of a
producer, wholesaler,
retailer, and end
consumer.

The first channel is the

longest because it
includes all four:
producer, wholesaler,
retailer, and
consumer. The wine
and adult beverage
industry is a perfect
example of this long
distribution channel. In
this industry—thanks
to laws born out of
prohibition—a winery
cannot sell directly to
a retailer. It operates
in the three-tier
system, meaning the
law requires the
winery to first sell its
product to a
wholesaler who then
sells to a retailer. The
retailer then sells the
product to the end
consumer.

The second channel

cuts out the
wholesaler—where
the producer sells
directly to a retailer
who sells the product
to the end consumer.
This means the
second channel
contains only one
intermediary. Dell, for
example, is large
enough to sell its
products directly to
reputable retailers
such as Best Buy.

The third and final

channel is a direct-to-
consumer model
where the producer
sells its product
directly to the end
consumer. Amazon,
which uses its own
platform to sell Kindles
to its customers, is an
example of a direct
model. This is the
shortest distribution
channel possible,
cutting out both the
wholesaler and the
retailer.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 A distribution
channel
represents a
chain of
businesses or
intermediaries
through which
the final buyer
purchases a
good or service.
 Distribution
channels
include
wholesalers,
retailers,
distributors, and
the Internet.
 In a direct
distribution
channel, the
manufacturer
sells directly to
the consumer.
Indirect
channels
involve multiple
intermediaries
before the
product ends up
in the hands of
the consumer.
Choosing the Right
Distribution Channel
Not all distribution
channels work for all
products, so it's
important for
companies to choose
the right one. The
channel should align
with the firm's overall
mission and strategic
vision including its
sales goals.

The method of
distribution should add
value to the consumer.
Do consumers want to
speak to a
salesperson? Will they
want to handle the
product before they
make a purchase? Or
do they want to
purchase it online with
no hassles?
Answering these
questions can help
companies determine
which channel they
choose.

Secondly, the
company should
consider how quickly it
wants its product(s) to
reach the buyer.
Certain products are
best served by a direct
distribution channel
such as meat or
produce, while others
may benefit from an
indirect channel.

If a company chooses
multiple distribution
channels, such as
selling products online
and through a retailer,
the channels should
not conflict with one
another. Companies
should strategize so
one channel doesn't
overpower the other.