Types of International Marketing Systems

Well! Not supposed to be used purely for marketing purposes, the international marketing systems actually provide a pathway for ensuring the availability of a certain product of a brand in an international market. In fact, these systems act as an intermediator channels between the brand and its customers and come into play right before the customer buys and takes the product off with him.

Even though there are many systems out there but the choice, among those that which one is going to work out for you, depends entirely on your promotional strategies and the flexibility of your brand from getting affected by any change in those strategies. This can also go true the other way round according to which, your strategies might also affect the decision of the choice among the systems.

Types of International Marketing Systems

1. Manufacturer to Customers

This system does not involve any of the intermediary hands for taking the product to its customer from the creator. Even though, it is a reality that most of the customers prefer to buy a product from a supplier rather than the manufacturer itself and that trend is what this system breaks. It makes use of particular strategies that are able to win both trust and interest of customers for the brand more than anyone else.

The “manufacturer to customers” system is useful to the business that does not need any intermediary at all. Unlike a medicine creation facility that relies on the suppliers and retailers for marketing of their products and getting sales of it, a vegetable and fruit farming facility can hand over the products to their rightful owner right in their hands. The same goes for a bakery that is able to generate sales and that too all by itself.

2. Manufacturer to Retailers to Customers

This route lets the business makes use of a retailer acting as a linkage between customers and the manufacturer itself. It is a lot better tactic in taking the product from the creator to user if they are separated by national boundaries. The working pattern of such international marketing systems is such that companies promote their products to the retailers with some similarity in terms of working field. The company can take a breath of rest, once the purchase is made since after that the retailer will be responsible for how he is marketing his products and how much sales he is generating.

For getting an understanding of how it all works, think of the manufacturers who excel in creating quality clothes. Clothes cannot be sold to the consumers, right from the start but that’s where the retailers step in, purchase the product from the manufacturer and step out to the external market in the search of potential customers. Same is the scenario with furniture, shoes and other shopping related goods creators. Since this system provides a lot of heck flexibility to them in achieving the purpose of getting sales.

3. Company to wholesaler to Consumer

Such international marketing systems work with the same golden rules as that of the strategy mentioned above, except this time it is wholesalers instead of a retailer. So, the customers refer to wholesalers for that particular product of yours, this time. This system works amazingly for the business fields that can work in bulk order environments. Since they sell the products to customers by making use of different marketing strategies and that too with a bulk of orders unlike the one involving retailers who work in a pretty much limited environment.

Even though it surely seems something interest worthy getting a lot of sales at a time, but it is also a fact that the main strength of the route is also its main weakness. As it is told already, it is suitable for businesses that receive huge orders but not for smaller businesses that often find it difficult in putting up more than a limited number of sales daily.

4. A long, long path

The fourth and final strategy makes you take a lot longer path than all of the above international marketing systems. In this course, the company optimizes its promotional strategies for attracting agents which are able to make it delivered to the wholesale dealer level. Agent, acting as a middle-man between a wholesaler and the manufacturer itself, actually assists the production company in taking maximum possible advantage of orders in bulk.

This wholesale part of the pathway then makes use of the best of it to attract retailers. Even though the wholesale dealers might not get bulk orders from a single retailer, but still, they are able to get most out of it since there will be many more retailers out there who are just waiting for the right opportunity. The retailers then purchase it from the wholesalers and then further refine their strategies down the way for gathering customers and getting sales that are so much profitable that even the manufacturer gets a part of it.

Making the Final Decision

Our job of putting all of the international marketing systems at one place ends and from right here, your job in choosing that ultimate system that could lead your company to success starts. Depending on your current business status and the marketing strategies that are in use with it, along with your incredible foresight, you can go for either a direct or indirect channel of approach to your target market, no matter whether it’s inside that brand’s homeland or a great international market. Such as online businesses prefer doing business with the customers directly do like beauty salons and hardware dealers.

It’s not just direct vs. indirect companioning, but also dependent vs. independent too. Furthermore, it also matters whether you want to go for a specialized marketing approach or is there something in your mind that involves exclusivity. So, just explore everything about your brand i.e. the depth, the strengths, and the weakness, etc. and go for the one which suits it the best.