The Ultimate Guide to Developing a Product Distribution Strategy

The one thing every business owner has in common with their competitors is that at some point, they’ll have to decide how to distribute their products. The decision isn’t always clear-cut and can vary from industry to industry and product to product. We’ve put together this ultimate guide to help you develop a Product distribution strategy the ultimate guide that fits your needs and goals while considering the challenges you might face along the way.

Who are you selling your products to?

Before you can effectively build your product distribution strategy, you need to know who you are selling your products or services to. Are they a consumer? An investor? A business? Make sure you have identified who will be using your product and how they will use it before creating your distribution strategy.

Where are you selling your products?

Distributors typically help businesses sell their products directly to retailers and wholesalers. If you’re not selling through retail channels, however, then you may need to find other ways of selling your products. Selling directly from your website is probably your best bet, although you could also set up in-person farmer’s markets or pop-up shops. (For more information about these types of sales, check out: How do I sell my product?)

When will you sell your products?

It’s important to decide when you’ll start selling your products. For example, if you want to sell organic produce at farmers markets during peak harvest season, it might be hard if you only just purchased your farm in late spring. Or, maybe you plan on making premium fine art prints and delivering them personally at high-end art galleries around town; that would be an exercise in futility if you haven’t yet spent weeks or months curating those images and getting connections with galleries.

Why should people buy from you instead of the competition?

A great product alone isn’t enough to win over customers in today’s marketplace. Brands need strategies that take them beyond simply being present for consumers to discover. How can you make your brand stand out and be considered an essential solution for customers? By developing a distribution strategy and going beyond what other brands are doing.