Distribution Channels

Assessing Dell's Distribution Channels

Dell Corporation (NYSE:DELL) is a global provider of personal computers, laptops, enterprise servers and storage networks, generating $61B in revenues during its latest fiscal period. All products are sold through a multichannel marketing and distribution strategy, with the server systems being sold through a network of distributors, dealers, resellers and service providers. The Dell servers are heavily customized to the specific needs of a given business, which provides distributors, dealers and resellers with an opportunity to customize these systems and gain incremental profit. Dell's approach to multi-channel distribution relies heavily on the distributor to share inventory carrying risk and the reseller to customize the system to user needs. This is a well-known best practice in multichannel distribution, of distributing risk evenly throughout an organization while ensuring systems are configured to specific customer needs (Magrath, Hardy, 1987).

Analyzing the Effectiveness of the Dell Multi-Channel Distribution...
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