ABSTRACT
One of the most important marketing strategy decisions for a business is which channel it should use to access its market and how far down that channel it should be. For example, should a clothes company sell to retailers, wholesalers, or through mail order catalogues, or all three; or should it go into retailing itself so that it has more direct control over the way in which the product is offered to the end consumer? Clearly different companies in the clothing industry have chosen different strategies and some businesses which started out as predominantly manufacturers have, over time, become exclusively retailers (for example, the Burton Group).
