This word borrowed from English came to Russia with the beginning (return) of capitalism. To the question of who the distributor is, the easiest way to answer is the translation - this is the distributor. To be more precise, it can be an individual (individual entrepreneur) or a legal entity that provides intermediary services in the supply of products from the manufacturer (starting point)
resellers (resellers) and, ultimately, the direct buyer. How else can you describe who the distributor is and what he does? First of all, he is a representative of a manufacturing company in a certain territory. That is, it is engaged in the construction
of a sales channel, establishing a network, and not retail. This is its difference from a reseller. The scale of both the network and the entrusted territory can be very different. It all depends primarily on the product. The more massive it is, the more popular it is, the more competition it has, the more the distributor’s sphere of activity (by the way, according to the 2007 Dictionary, the form “distributor” is also allowed) is more concentrated. Take an example: a producer of juices (dairy products, bread, and the like)
He is interested in having his goods in all retail chains, in small shops, kiosks, in supermarkets and shopping centers. Therefore, the channel should be wide and branched. And
who is the distributor in this case? This is a wholesaler,
establishing relationships with retail, engaged in
pricing in a specific city and / or region, tracking and organizing advertising and promotions, positioning, display. At the same time, he can work both for one manufacturer and promote goods from different manufacturers. He can work on his own behalf or not. But it is he who is responsible for warehousing, wholesale purchases, and pricing in the region.
Take another example that illustrates who the distributor is. Suppose a manufacturer produces banner fabrics for large format printing on five-meter printers. How many end customers can he have, if such machines are extremely rare, are they available at best at one enterprise for the production of advertising in a megalopolis?
In this case, it is more advisable for him to entrust the distribution of his products to the distributor in the whole country or several regions at once. And there is no point in promoting it through several channels, because the demand for such a product is selective and episodic.
Often, distributors of auto parts, plumbing, complex machines work for a commission. For them, a certain sales volume per region (country, district, city, network) is assumed. In its implementation, they can count on bonus rewards. But it is the distributor who is responsible for receiving money from the final buyer, often his work is evaluated only after calculating the annual turnover and paid invoices. The position of the manufacturer, in general, is understandable. He wants to supply large quantities and not think about advertising, discounts, debts, or the local market. All concerns should lie on the shoulders of the distributor. It will be up to him to decide how, in what form, from what budget to advertise the goods, to whom it is possible to provide credit, and from whom it is necessary to take an advance payment. His concern will also be where to store the products until delivery to the store (or to the customer). Therefore, the search for distributors who are competent, able to build a channel, long-term partnerships with retail is not such an easy task. But it is precisely on his activities that, ultimately, the reputation of products in a given region depends.