CHANNEL OF DISTRIBUTION
A channel of distribution or trade channel is defined as the path or route along which goods move from producers or manufacturers to ultimate consumers

INTRODUCTION
 There are basically 4 types of marketing channels:
 Direct selling;

 Selling through intermediaries;
 Dual distribution; and  Reverse channels.

Direct Selling
 Direct selling is the marketing and selling of products

directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location.
 Modern direct selling includes sales made through the party

plan, one-on-one demonstrations, personal contact arrangements as well as internet sales.

Selling Through Intermediaries
 A marketing channel where intermediaries such as

wholesalers and retailers are utilized to make a product available to the customer is called an indirect channel.
 The most indirect channel you can use is used when there are

many small manufacturers and many small retailers and an agent is used to help coordinate a large supply of the product.

Dual Distribution
 Dual distribution describes a wide variety of marketing

arrangements by which the manufacturer or wholesalers uses more than one channel simultaneously to reach the end user. They may sell directly to the end users as well as sell to other companies for resale.  Using two or more channels to attract the same target market can sometimes lead to channel conflict.

Reverse Channel
 In the other three channels, you would have noticed that they

have one thing in common -- the flow. Each one flows from producer to intermediary (if there is one) to consumer. Third is indeed the traditional role.
 Technology, however, has made another flow possible. This

one goes in the reverse direction and may go -- from consumer to intermediary to beneficiary. Think of making money from the resale of a product or recycling.