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What Is the Role of Place in the Marketing Mix?

Esther Ejim
Esther Ejim

Marketing mix refers to the right mixture of marketing factors with the aim of achieving the best results that will help a company sell products under consideration. Marketing mix includes price, place, promotion and product. These four marketing factors have established economic principles or conditions that have to be met in order to achieve maximum sales. The role of place in the marketing mix is its importance as a means of deciding the best channels for effectively getting the goods to the customer.

One important factor to note about the importance of place in the marketing mix is that it does not refer to the location of the business itself, but rather to the location of the customers. The place deals with strategies the business can employ to get its goods from its present location to the location of the customers. Such a project must of necessity entail a study of the demographic that constitutes the customers with the aim of finding out their location. In an increasingly global economy, the location of the customers of a company located in Singapore could span the different continents of the world.

Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone
Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone

As such, the company must figure out the best way to channel its products from Singapore to its customers in Africa, Europe and other continents. In this way, it is easy to see the role of place in the marketing mix. This allows such companies to come up with the best methods for achieving maximum distribution of goods to the customers. One of the examples of a place or channel includes the retailer. After identifying the target market, retail stores located nearby could serve as a place for reaching these customers.

Another element that could serve as a place for reaching the customers is the Internet. If the company is located in an industrialized country, then it is logical to assume that a large number of its customers use the Internet in some form. This element illustrates the importance of place in the marketing mix because such customers can order from the company directly through Web sites, which the company has set up in advance for such a purpose. In this sense, the Internet serves as a place for the purpose of reaching the customers.

The place could also refer to the methods and channels for the effective and expeditious distribution of the product to the target customers. Such channels may include the distributors of the product. It may also include well-coordinated methods for the transportation of the goods to the final consumers.

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Discussion Comments

Kristee

If you are just getting started with your business, it helps to sell your stuff on a site shared by others with products like you have. I put artwork up for sale on a site where hundreds of other people were selling art, and I knew that anyone who visited the site would be in the market for art.

JackWhack

Restaurants should always consider the people who live in an area before deciding to open up a new location. A gourmet restaurant with high prices is not likely to do well in a low-income area where people prefer country style cooking.

Also, a place that serves nothing but fried, greasy foods is not likely to prosper in an area where people are willing to pay a lot for healthy, fancy meals. You have to consider the lifestyle of the population, too.

feasting

@shell4life – I agree that an online presence is important, but I also think that companies should keep their products in stock at stores. There are people out there who would rather have the experience of seeing and touching the product in person than going by a photograph online.

I think it's important for retail stores to offer their clothes for sale both online and in person. There have been times when I've shopped both ways.

I always try on something new before buying it so that I can know if it looks good on me. However, I do buy clothes online if I have had luck with them in the past. After I bought a pair of jeans of a certain brand in person, I ordered more of them in different colors online.

shell4life

I think that it is essential for every business to have an online market. I've seen some businesses that only show pictures or describe their products online, but force the customers to go to physical locations to buy them. I think that they miss out on a lot of sales this way.

Personally, I would much rather shop online than go to a store. I don't have a lot of time for shopping, so the convenience of ordering online makes it very appealing.

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      Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone