EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project entitled Distribution Strategy in Target Market was a very nice and challenging experience in doing the project in a company like AMUL. Within a month (October 2013) of this project period researcher went to many retail shop in Mumbai to gather information of retailers. Researcher have visited MG road, Camp, Harapsar, Shivaji Nagar, & various others scattered parts of the city.

REASONS FOR SELECTING THE TOPIC

There are many reasons for selective the topic distribution strategy in target market. They are as follows: During the initial discussions with Mr. Hitendra Sinha (Sales Executive), he suggested me that there are problems arising in distribution in Mumbai Depot (Amul) due to lack of good market information. They assigned me the Research work and told me to get market information

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INTRODUCTION

In todays competitive market every organization has to take initiative to keep its product demand in market and also to update its product according to customer demand. For the fulfillment of customers demand, retailer plays a major role. Researcher did this research work on distribution strategy adopted in target market. this objective was to study awareness level of Retailers, availability of Amul products in retail outlets and Retailers problems in regards to Amul. Indian FMCG is one of the most emerging markets in the global scenario because India has second largest population of the world and their food pattern increasing day by day. Gujarat co-operative milk and marketing federation is well known fast moving consumer goods company in India. It operates all over India through a nationwide network of distributor and retailer outlets.

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 HISTORY
Amul was formally registered on December 14, 1946. The brand name Amul, sourced from the Sanskrit word Amoolya, means priceless. It was suggested by a quality control expert in Anand and it was chosen because it was a perfect acronym for Anand Milk Union Limited? The Amul revolution was started as awareness among the farmers. It grew and matured into a protest movement that was channeled towards economic prosperity. Over five decades ago, the life of an average farmer in Kheda District was very much likes that of his/her counterpart anywhere else in India. His/her income was derived almost entirely from seasonal crops. The income from milk buffaloes was undependable. Milk producers had to travel long distances to deliver milk to the only dairy, the Polson Dairy in Anand often milk went sour, especially in the summer season, as producers had to physically carry milk in individual containers. Private traders and middle men controlled the marketing and distribution system for the milk. These middlemen decided the prices and the offtake from the farmers by the season. As milk is perishable, farmers were compelled to sell it for whatever they were offered. Often, they had to sell cream and ghee at throw-away prices. In this situation, the private trader made a killing.

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 Moreover, the government at that time had given monopoly rights to Polson Dairy, which was run by a person of Parsi descent, (around that time Polson was the most well known butter brand in the country) to collect milk from Anand and supply to Mumbai city in turn (about 400 kilometers away). Another problem farmers faced was that in winter the milk output of buffaloes doubled which caused prices to fall down even further. India ranked nowhere amongst milk producing countries in the world in 1946. Gradually, the realization dawned on the farmers with inspiration from then nationalist leaders Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (who later became the first Home Minister of free India) and Morarji Desai (who later become the Prime Minister of India) and local farmer, freedom fighter and social worker Tribhovandas Patel, that the exploitation by the trader could be checked only if they marketed their milk themselves. Amul was the result of the realization that they could pool up their milk and work as a cooperative.

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 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This project was done by me in AMUL company was out with broad objective like understanding the real market scenario, awareness level of retailers, problems of retailers and distribution strategy in target market. According to needs of the Company researcher have decided the Projects objectives:-

Primary Objectives:
1. To know the awareness level of the Amul products among Retailers. 2. To know about the availability of the Amul products in local Retail Outlet 3. To know the Retailers problems in regards to AMUL products as well as distribution process.

Secondary Objectives
1. To understand Retailer buying Behaviors. 2. To know the competitors availability in the market

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: The various means and methods have been deployed for effective collection of the desired data-has been elucidated in this section. The following marketing search tools were made use of 1- Depth interview method. 2- Questionnaire direct structured method. Both primary and secondary data were used to collect information regarding this project. These data were collected through direct retailers interactions as well as through secondary research work involving internet search.

RESEARCH PROBLEM /LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

Some retailers do not give time as they are busy with customers. Some retailers manipulated the facts and figures while interview. Consumers taste and preference changes very frequently. As the research work needs to be undertaken in the morning time, it was found difficult to meet many retailers. Lack of Company support and inadequate data due to Company privacy and secrecy makes this research incomplete.
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 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In todays competitive market every organization has to take initiative to keep its product demand in market and also to update its product according to customer demand. For the fulfillment of customers demand, retailer plays a major role. Researcher did this research work on distribution strategy adopted in target market. this objective was to study awareness level of Retailers, availability of Amul products in retail outlets and Retailers problems in regards to Amul.

COMPANY PROFILE Amul (Anand Milk Union Limited), formed in 1946 (Registered on 14th December 1946), is a dairy cooperative movement in India. It is a brand name managed by an apex cooperative organization i.e. Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is jointly owned by some 2.6 million milk producers in Gujarat, India. It is based in Anand town of Gujarat and has been a sterling example of a cooperative organization's success in the long term.

The Amul Pattern has established itself as a uniquely appropriate model for rural development. Amul has spurred the White Revolution of India, which has made India the largest producer of milk and milk products in the world. It is also the world's biggest vegetarian cheese brand. Amul's product range includes Milk powders, Milk, Butter, Ghee, Cheese, Curd, Chocolate, Ice cream, Shrikhand, Paneer, Gulab Jamuns,
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Burundi, Nutramul brand and others. In January 2006, Amul plans to launch India's first sports drink Stamina, which will be competing with Coca Cola's Powerade and PepsiCo's Gatorade. Amul is the largest food brand in India and world's Largest Pouched Milk Brand with an annual turnover of US $1050 million (2006-07). Currently Amul has 2.6 million producer members with milk collection average of 10.16 million litres per day. Besides India, Amul has entered overseas markets such as Mauritius, UAE, USA, Bangladesh, Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and a few South African countries. Its bid to enter Japanese market in 1994 had not succeeded, but now it has fresh plans of flooding the Japanese markets .Other potential markets being considered include Sri Lanka.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF): An Overview

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is India's largest food products marketing organization. It is a state level apex body of milk cooperatives in Gujarat which aims to provide remunerative returns to the farmers and also serve the interest of consumers by providing quality products which are good value for money. Dr Verghese Kurien, former chairman of the GCMMF, is recognised as the man behind the success of Amul. On 10 Aug 2006 Parthi Bhatol, chairman of the Banaskantha Union, was elected chairman of GCMMF.

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Members: No. of Producer Members: No. of Village Societies: Total Milk handling capacity: Milk collection (Total - 2007-08): Milk collection (Daily Average 2007-08): Milk Drying Capacity: Cattle feed manufacturing Capacity:

13

district

cooperative

milk

producers' Union 2.7 million 13,141 10.21 million liters per day 2.69 billion liters 7.4 million liters 626 Mts. per day 3090 Mts per day

RESEARCH DESIGN
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A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collections and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research problem with economies in a procedure. Research design is the plan structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research question and control variance. Research design is the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data. Research design category into three: Research design in case of exploratory research studies. Research design in case of descriptive and diagnostic research studies. Research design in case of hypothesis-testing research studies I have used descriptive research design for this research.

Descriptive Research:Descriptive research includes surveys and fact findings enquiries of different kinds. It basically gives a description of the state of affairs as it exists at present. A researcher has no control over the variables so they can only report what has happened or what is happening. We can also use the survey method for this purpose.

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RESEARCH DESIGN USED IN THIS RESEARCH

METHOD USED FOR DATA COLLECTION Observation and Interview of retailers

TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION Primary Data: Interview Schedule

Secondary Data: Company journals & sites

QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY: STRUCTURED

o Extent:
Extent refers to the area from the respondents belong. We have conducted the research mainly on the people of Delhi, that too specifically, north-east region.

o Time frame:
Time frame is the time spent on research. The time frame for our research is 8 weeks.

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 SAMPLING
SAMPLE ELEMENT/TECHNIQUE: The primary data was collected through survey that was systematically carried in north-east region of Mumbai. The data was collected through questionnaire. The responses of the respondents were recorded in the questionnaire prepared for them.

SAMPLE DATA: Universe: Retailers of 4 areas of Mumbai Population: Retailers, their competitor, selling outlets, presently not selling Amul brand but wanted to sell. Sample Size: Number of retailers are 120 Sample method: Convenient sampling method

Statistical technique: Percentage method

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 SOURCE OF DATA COLLECTION

a) Primary Data: Primary datas are those which are gathered specially for the project at hand, directly e.g. through questionnaires & interviews. Primary data sources include company salesman, middleman, consumers, buyers, trade associations executives & other businessman & even competitors. b) Secondary Data: These are generally published sources, which have been collected originally for some other purpose. Source are internal company records, government publication, reports & publication, reports & journals, trade, professional and business associations publications & reports.

Sources of Data Collection in This Research:-

Market research requires two types of data, i.e., primary data and secondary data. Researcher used both types of data for collecting information. Mostly primary data researcher used well-structured questionnaires to collect information from the Retailers. In this project primary data involves: Interviewing the Amul Retailers Observation at retail outlets. Interviewing was done on basis of questionnaire for retailers; observation method was followed for distributors and consumers. Lots of care was taken

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at the time of preparing questionnaire so that it gives a better and authentic result. Secondary Data: - The secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else and which have already been passed through statistical process. In this project secondary data involves: Organization , journals , and booklets Retailers price list

Deciding Research methods for collecting data: If it is found that the secondary data cannot be of much use, collection primary data become necessary. Three widely used methods of gathering primary data are A) Survey B) Observation A) Survey Method: - In this method, information gathered directly from individual respondents, either through personal interviews or through mail questionnaires or telephone interviews. B) Observation Method: - The research data are gathered through observing and recording their actions in a marketing situation. This technique is highly accurate. It is rather an expensive technique.

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 DATA COLLECTION
MARKET SHARE OF AMUL IN INDIA

MARK ETS H ARE

OTHERS 10% VADILAL 20% HUL 30% AMUL 40%

Among the major players in this industry AMUL has a market share of around 40%. Hindustan Unilever Ltd with an estimated market share of 30% represented mainly by Kwality Walls brand and lastly Vadilal is the player in the national market with 20% of the market share and 10% of the others brand like Mother Dairy, Arun Dairy and some local brands.

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 SWOT ANALYSIS

MISSION &VISION OF AMUL

MISSION OF AMUL: The main mission of Amul is to help farmers. Farmers were the foundation stone of Amul Company. The system works only for farmers and for consumers, not for profit. The main aim of Amul is to provide quality products to the consumer at minimum cost. The goal of Amul is to provide maximum profit in terms of money to the farmers.
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 VISION OF AMUL: Vision of Amul is to provide and vanish the problems of farmers (milk producers) of their livelihood. The Amuls apparition was to run the organization with the co-operation of four main parties like the farmers, the representatives, the marketers and the customer.

ACHIVEMENTS

INTERNATIONAL CIO 100 AWARDS FOR RESOURCEFULNESS

GCMMF is a winner of the prestigious international CIO 100 award from IDG's CIO Magazine, USA. The 2003 CIO 100 award recognizes the organizations around the world that excel in positive business performance through resourceful IT management and best practices.

This CIO International IT excellence Award has recognized the Cooperative Movement & its Leadership under the "Amul" brand, initiated by Dr. V Kurien, Milkman of India, whos main Motto is to build Indian Society economically & literally strong through innovative cooperative resourceful network, so as to provide quality service & products to the end consumers and good returns to the farmer members.

This award has also given direction that IT need to be encouraged & adopted more & more at grass root level and bridge the digital divide
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through proper training, re-training so as to bring radical change & benefit to the Indian society. It has also recognized the Managing Director, Mr. B M Vyas, who has taken IT initiative by setting the direction "GCMMF as IT Company in Food business". It has also inspired all the employees of GCMMF Enterprise to sustain the challenges as a "Change Agent" by excelling their IT skills in order to transform the people around them towards IT Integration (e-Vision) on both the ends of supply chain (Village level Farmer to end consumer). This award also motivated the each & every member dairy, Amul's wholesale distributors, retailers, transporters and suppliers who have supported whole-heartedly the IT initiatives of GCMMF.

The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has been honoured at the CIO 100 Symposium & Award Ceremony on August 19, 2003, at the Broad moor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Shri Subbarao Hegde, Head of IT had been to USA and received the said Award on behalf of GCMMF.

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 AMUL PRODUCTS
BREAD SPREADS
Amul Butter Amul Lite

Utterly Delicious
Delicious Table

Butterly

Low Spread

fat,

low Bread

Cholesterol
Margarine

The Delicious way to eat healthy

BEVERAGE RANGE
Amul Kool Amul Kool Cafe

Kool

Koko

Nutramul

Energy

Drink

A delight to Chocolate Lovers. Chocolate taste Delicious

A drink for Kids provides energy to suit the needs of growing Kids

Amul Kool Chocolate Milk

Amul Kool Flavoured Bottled Milk

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Amul Kool Flavoured Tetra Pack

Amul

Masti

Spiced

Buttermilk

Amul Drink POWDER MILK

Amul Spray Infant Milk Food

introduces

the

Best Thirst Quenching

Amul Instant Full Cream Milk Powder

Still, Mother's Milk is Best for your baby

A dairy in your home

Sagar

Skimmed

Milk

Powder

Sagar Tea Coffee Whitener

Which useful

is

especially for diet

preparations or for use by people on low calorie and high protein diet.

Amulya Whitener The Richest,

Dairy Purest

Dairy Whitener

FRESH MILK

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Amul

Fresh

Milk

Amul Gold Milk

This is the most hygienic milk available in the market. Pasteurised in state-of-the-art processing convenience. plants and for pouch-packed

Amul Taaza Double Toned Milk

Amul Lite Slim and Trim Milk

Amul Fresh Cream

Amul Shakti Toned Milk

CHEESE
Amul Pasteurised Processed Cheese Amul Cheese Spreads

100% Cheese

Vegetarian made from

Tasty Cheese Spreads in 3 great flavours..

microbial rennet

Amul

Emmental

Cheese

Amul

Pizza

Mozzarella

Cheese

The Great Swiss Cheese from Amul, has a sweetdry flavour and hazelnut
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Pizza

cheese...makes

great tasting pizzas!

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aroma

Gouda Cheese

FOR COOKING
Amul / Sagar Pure Ghee Cooking Butter

Made from fresh cream. Has typical rich aroma and granular texture. An ethnic product made by diaries with decades of experience.

Amul

Malai

Paneer

Utterly Delicious Pizza

Ready to cook paneer to make recipes! your favourite

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Mithai

Mate

Masti Dahi

Sweetened

Condensed

Milk - Free flowing and smooth texture. White to creamy color with a pleasant taste.

DESSERTS
Amul Ice Creams Amul Shrikhand

Premium

Ice

Cream

delicious

treats,

made in various varieties and flavours with dry fruits and nuts.

anytime.

Amul

Mithaee

Gulab

Jamuns

Gulab Jamun Mix

Pure

Khoya

Gulab served

Jamums...best piping hot.

Amul

Chocolates

Amul Lassee

The

perfect

gift

for

someone you love.

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Amul Basundi

HEALTH DRINK
Nutramul

Malted Milk Food made extract highest from has malt the protein

content among all the brown beverage powders India. sold in

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 INDUSTRY PROFILE
FOOD INDUSTRY:
The food industry is the complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population. Only subsistence farmers, those who survive on what they grow, can be considered outside of the scope of the modern food industry. The food industry includes: Regulation: local, regional, national and international rules and regulations for food production and sale, including food quality and food safety, and industry lobbying activities Education: academic, vocational, consultancy Research and development: food technology Financial services: insurance, credit Manufacturing: agrichemicals, seed, farm machinery and supplies, agricultural construction, etc. Agriculture: raising of crops and livestock, seafood Food processing: preparation of fresh products for market, manufacture of prepared food products

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 Marketing: promotion of generic products (e.g. milk board), new products, public opinion, through advertising, packaging, public relations, etc Wholesale and distribution: warehousing, transportation, logistics Retail: supermarket chains and independent food stores, direct-toconsumer, restaurant, food services

ADVANTAGE OF INDIA UNDER FOOD INDUSTRY:

India is one of the largest food producers in the world India has diverse agro-climatic conditions and has a large and diverse raw material base suitable for food processing companies Investment requirement of around US$ 15 billion exists in the food processing sector India is looking for investment in infrastructure, packaging and marketing India has huge scientific and research talent pool A largely untapped domestic market of 1000 million consumers 300 million upper and middle class consume processed food. 200 million more consumers expected to shift to processed food by 2010. Well developed infrastructure and distribution network. Rapid urbanization, increased literacy, changing life style, increased number of women in workforce, rising per capita income- leading to rapid growth and new opportunities in food and beverages sector. 50 per cent of household expenditure by Indians is on food items. Strategic geographic location (proximity of India to markets in Europe and Far East, South East and West Asia).
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 Under the food industry, Dairy product is very important part of food processing. Dairy processing is acting good role in India. Dairy Processing India ranks first in the world in terms of milk production. Indian production stands at 91 million tones growing at a CAGR of 4 per cent. This is primarily due to the initiatives taken by the Operation flood programmes in organizing milk producers into cooperatives; building infrastructure for milk procurement, processing and marketing and providing financial, technical and management inputs by the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Food Processing Industries to turn the dairy sector into viable self-sustaining organized sector. About 35% of milk produced in India is processed. The organized sector (large scale dairy plants) processes about 13 million tones annually, while the unorganized sector processes about 22 million tones per annum. In the organized sector, there are 676 dairy plants in the Cooperative, Private and Government sectors registered with the Government of India and the state Governments. The Ministry of food Processing Industries is promoting organized Dairy processing sector to accomplish upcoming demands of processed dairy products and helping to identify various areas of research for future product development and quality improvement to revamp the Indian dairy export by way of providing financial assistance to the dairy processing units. 32 Units have been sanctioned financial assistance (Rs.591 lakhs) under the plan scheme of the Ministry during the year 2006-07. Major Indian and Overseas Players in the Food industry:
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 ITC Limited Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. Agro Tech Foods Amul Perfetti India Ltd. Cadbury India Ltd. PepsiCo India Holdings Nestle India Pvt. Ltd. Britannia Industries Ltd. Hindustan UniLever Limited Godrej industries Limited Dabur India Ltd.

AMUL COMPETITORS
Amul have strong competitors in market like Britannia, Nestle, Pizza Hut, Nirulas, Hul and Cadbury in various sectors which are represented below in form of diagram:-

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LIQUID FRESH MILK

A Z I P

M A R E C I

COMPETITION

THEOROTICAL BACKGROUND
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 DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY:
Marketing consists of the "4Ps:" product, place, promotion and price. Product refers to what is being sold, promotion to how it is touted in the market, and price to the strategy used to generate revenue. Place is the method of distribution that the company selects to move its product to the market. This consideration, distribution, can be critical to a company's success since choosing the wrong distribution system can mean that the company's product is not available to the consumers when they need it. Lost sales result, and companies can suffer serious consequences due to poor distribution. This research considers the overall issue of distribution and factors that companies need to take into account when developing a distribution strategy. Few manufacturers sell their goods directly to end users; one of the primary exceptions to this is farmers who sell to consumers. However, most manufacturers sell their goods to wholesalers, who sell to distributors, who sell to retail stores, who sell to consumers. Sometimes the distributor is eliminated, or the wholesaler and distributor are the same. In some instances, such as with retailers who are as large as WalMart, the manufacturers do market directly to the retailer. This system, while it sounds cumbersome when described, can actually prove quite efficient. Manufacturers typically produce large quantities of goods. These are divided into smaller shipments (but still containing large numbers here is no excess inventory carrying costs. However, this is not an effective method for retailers because they cannot determine demand with the accuracy of a foreman on a production line. Recommendations Companies who are evaluating their distribution system need to take into account the end user and the best way to reach
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that user. Industrial users are not reached effectively through retailers, and consumers are not reached through industrial supply houses. Some industries do not lend themselves well to wholesalers and distributors, and manufacturers serving only a local market may be able to more efficiently serve as wholesaler to their clients. Building a close relationship with customers and suppliers is important so that manufacturers and distributors have a clear idea of the factors behind increases (or decreases) in demand. This can help prevent surpluses and shortages and ensure that all of the participants in the distribution channel receive the maximum benefit from the system.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGIES IMPORTANCE: For product-focused companies, establishing the most appropriate distribution strategies is a major key to success, defined as maximizing sales and profits. Unfortunately, many of these companies often fail to establish or maintain the most effective distribution strategies. Problems that we have identified include:

Unwillingness to establish different distribution channels for different products Fear of utilizing multiple channels, especially including direct or semidirect sales, due to concerns about erosion of distributor loyalty or interchannel cannibalization Failure to periodically re-visit and update distribution strategies Lack of creativity and resistance to change More typically, however, they are due to failings such as simple inertia, lack of understanding of the ultimate customers and their preferences, or a failure to acknowledge the importance of a distribution strategy

To be fair, there can be sound reasons for these perceived weaknesses.

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DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM:
Distribution system has two divisions, namely Physical Distribution Channels of distribution The channel members such as mercantile agents, wholesalers and retailers are middlemen in distribution and they perform all marketing functions .Such middlemen facilitate the process of exchange and create time, place and position utilities through matching and sorting process. Sorting enables meeting the supply with consumer demand.

PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION: Physical distribution looks after physical handling of goods and assures maximum customers service .It aims at offering delivery of right goods at right time at right place to the customers physical distribution activities cover at right placed to the customers Physical distribution cover Order processing Handling of goods Packaging Warehousing Transportation Inventory control Customer service All middlemen in distribution perform these functions and they assure placing the product within an arms length of customers desire and demand.
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 CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION
A channel of distribution is an organized network or a system of agencies network or a system of agencies and institutions, which in combination perfume all the activities required to link producer with users and users with producers to accomplish the marketing task. According to Phillip kotler, Marketing channels is an independent organization involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption. Thus, a channel of distribution is a pathway directing is a pathway directing the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers composed of intermediaries through their functions and attainment of mutual objectives. These intermediaries are as follows: Manufacturer-Consumer

In this channel Manufacture sells directly to ultimate consumer. The major ways are door to door, home parties, mail order, telemarketing, television selling and manufacturer owned stores.

Manufacturer Retailer Consumer

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 This channel has one intermediary namely retailer. The most common channel for consumer durables such as textiles, shoes, readymade garments and so on. Manufacturer-Wholesaler-Consumer

This channel bypasses the last name retailer, when there are large and institutional buyers. Example-industrial buyers, Government, consumer co-operatives, Hospitals, educational institutions, business houses. Manufacturer-Agent-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer

This is a longest channel of distribution, where the producer uses the services of agent middlemen such as sales agent for the initial dispersion of goods. The agent in turn may distribute to wholesalers, who in turn sells to retailers and thus reaches consumers. Functions of the distribution channels in brief: Buying and assembling of goods. Providing warehouse facility. Providing transportation of goods from products to their warehouse. Risk bearing, Grading, packing, and packaging Dispatching and selling the goods. Advertising Providing market information Informing about consumer preferences.

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 FACTORS AFFECTING DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

Market Factors:
An important market factor is "buyer behavior"; how do buyers want to purchase the product? Do they prefer to buy from retailers, locally, via mail order or perhaps over the Internet? Another important factor is buyer needs for product information, installation and servicing. Which channels are best served to provide the customer with the information they need before buying? Does the product need specific technical assistance either to install or service a product? Intermediaries are often best placed to provide servicing rather than the original producer - for example in the case of motor cars.

The willingness of channel intermediaries to market product is also a factor. Retailers in particular invest heavily in properties, shop fitting etc. They may decide not to support a particular product if it requires too much investment (e.g. training, display equipment, warehousing).

Another important factor is intermediary cost. Intermediaries typically charge a "mark-up" or "commission" for participating in the channel. This might be deemed unacceptably high for the ultimate producer business.

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Producer Factors:
A key question is whether the producer has the resources to perform the functions of the channel? For example a producer may not have the resources to recruit, train and equip a sales team. If so, the only option may be to use agents and/or other distributors. Producers may also feel that they do not possess the customer-based skills to distribute their products. Many channel intermediaries focus heavily on the customer interface as a way of creating competitive advantage and cementing the relationship with their supplying producers. Another factor is the extent to which producers want to maintain control over how, to whom and at what price a product is sold. If a manufacturer sells via a retailer, they effective lose control over the final consumer price, since the retailer sets the price and any relevant discounts or promotional offers. Similarly, there is no guarantee for a producer that their product/(s) are actually been stocked by the retailer. Direct distribution gives a producer much more control over these issues.

Product Factors:
Large complex products are often supplied direct to customers (e.g. complex medical equipment sold to hospitals). By contrast perishable products (such as frozen food, meat, bread) require relatively short distribution channels - ideally suited to using intermediaries such as retailers.

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DISTRIBUTION INTENSITY: There are three broad options - intensive, selective and exclusive distribution:

Intensive distribution aims to provide saturation coverage of the market by using all available outlets. For many products, total sales are directly linked to the number of outlets used (e.g. cigarettes, beer). Intensive distribution is usually required where customers have a range of acceptable brands to choose from. In other words, if one brand is not available, a customer will simply choose another.

Selective distribution involves a producer using a limited number of outlets in a geographical area to sell products. An advantage of this approach is that the producer can choose the most appropriate or bestperforming outlets and focus effort (e.g. training) on them. Selective distribution works best when consumers are prepared to "shop around" in other words - they have a preference for a particular brand or price and will search out the outlets that supply.

Exclusive distribution is an extreme form of selective distribution in which only one wholesaler, retailer or distributor is used in a specific geographical area.

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Amul Caters To The Need Of Every Sections Of Society:

CUSTOMER BASED MARKET SEGMENTATION Amul cool chocolate milk Nutramul energy drink Amul kool milk shake Amul calci Utterly Delicious Pizza Amul Emmental cheese Amul cheese spreadsv

Kids:-

Women: Youth: -

Caloric Conscious:- Amul lite Sagar skimmed milk paste Amul lite slim trim milk Health Conscious:Nutramal Amul Shakti Health food drink

INDUSTRY BASED MARKET SEGMENTATION

MILK: Ice cream manufactures
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 Restaurant/Food chains Coffee shop chains Temples

Butter/cheese/ghee: Bakery Confectionaries Pizza Retailers

REASONS FOR SUCCESS

Robust Supply chain Vast and complex hierarchical network. Co-operation stretches from small suppliers to large fragmented markets Low cost strategy Affordable and attractive to consumer Guaranteeing them value for money

Diverse Product Mix Amul Butter Milk Powder Ghee

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 Amulspray Cheese Chocolates Shrikhand Ice-cream Nutramul Amulaya

Strong distribution network Available in 500,000 retail available across India Available 3500 distributors Available dry and cold warehouses to buffer inventory

Technology and e-initiatives New Product Process technology.

ANNEXURE

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Name of Retail outlet --------------------Address------------------------------Contact No-----------------------Email id------------------------

1.

Which of the following brand do you provide? (a) Amul (c) Nestle (b) Cadbury (d) Hul

How do you contact with the Amul distributor? (a)Telephone (c)Email (b) Personal visit of Employee

3. Does Amul distributor supply exact quantity as per order? (a) Yes 4. (b) No

What is the speed of receiving the products after placing Amul order by (a) Very fast (c) Medium (b) Fast (d) Slow

you?

5. What is your opinion regarding Amul packaging?

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(a) Excellent (c) Satisfied

(b) Good (d) Poor

6 Do you have cooling equipment? (a)Yes 7. (b) No

How often the Amul product does get damaged? (a) Always (c) Never (b) Sometimes (d) many times

8. Which Company solve problem fast in terms of Replacement? (a) Amul (c) Nestle (b) Cadbury (d) Hul

9 Are you getting facility of credit purchase for Amul products? (a) Yes (b) No

10. Which Company gives you better sales promotion schemes? (a) Amul (c) Nestle (b) Cadbury (d) Hul

11. Which Company giving better margin on sales? (a) Amul (c) Nestle (b) Cadbury (d) Hul

12. Would you like to give any suggestions?

M.Com B&F -II

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M.Com B&F -II

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