Channel Buyers

If you sell to other businesses, who turn around and resell your products and services, your buyers are predominantly channel buyers. Examples of channel buyers from the grocery and drug industry are:

Influences on channel buyers may include non-target identification attributes such as the item's margin and profitability, discounts, free goods, cash fees, and personal relationships.

Channel buyers may be subdivided into:

  1. business-to-business markets
  2. government
  3. consumer markets

Business-to-business and government buyers. Business-to-business and government buyers are subject to many different influences than buyers of consumer goods:

Business buyers take many factors into account when contemplating buying decisions:

Consumer-goods buyers. Consumer-goods buyers are subject to different influences when compared with business-to-business and government buyers:

Channel buying decision influences. Channel buyers may or may not directly purchase company products and services. There are many different roles in the buying process for a large supplier's customers:

It is not uncommon for a new item survey to be conducted throughout a majority of a chain's stores, with purchase intent/store/quantity indicated by store managers. The new item may be reviewed by all those listed above to ensure margins, store policies, technology, distribution systems, warehousing, shelf life, retail pricing, promotion programs, and profit goals and standards are being met by the company supplier.