TRADE FACTORS AND TRADE CHANNELS 1. Trade factors in general.—Trade factors are the cogs in the machinery of marketing. They are the things that have to be considered prior to the actual selling campaig,n by everyone who has anything to sell. They may be grouped under three heads: the goods that are to be sold, the market for the goods, and the methods of reaching the desired market.
2. Stud,y of the product.—Every marketing cam paign must be built on the characteristics of the goods to be sold. Wide variations in methods of marketing follow as a result of wide variations in the nature of the goods themselves. The methods of marketing dressed meat and the methods of marketing cotton cloth must be different. Variations in the nature of the market affect selling plans, but these variations are usually due to differences in the goods to be sold. Custom has great weight in determining selling meth ods; brit customs, even though no longer logical, must have arisen originally for some good reason, and that reason, as far as selling methods are concerned, is almost invariably to be found in the characteristics of the goods that are being marketed.
The first thing the seller must do is to study the things he has to sell. There are a number of ques tions he must ask and answer before Ile spends money for salesmen or for advertising. For instance: Is the product one for which there is a ready demand, or must the demand be created? Is it a necessity or a luxury? Will, it repeat? Is it subject to seasonal variations in demand? What are the peculiar con ditions surrounding its production? What about raw material, cost of manufacture and ease of transpor tation? How much capital is available to market it? What are the inherent qualities of the article? Why should people purchase it? How can it be given in dividuality? What are the trade-mark and patent questions in connection with it? What are the mar keting possibilities of the package? How much can it be sold for? How does it compare with compe ting articles? These questions are merely suggestive. Most of them apply, of course, chiefly to the manu facturer and his product. There are others, how ever, just as important that must be studied by the dealer. One of the chief criticisms of many retail and wholesale salesmen is that they do not know the goods they handle. The manufacturer does not often fail in this respect; but distributors are so often guilty of failure really to study the things they sell that it is necessary to place great emphasis on the importance of this factor in trade.
3. Study of the of the market is fully as important as study of the product. Who are the people forming the natural market for the goods you have to sell? Where do they live? How do they live? What are their buying habits? How much can they pay for a product like yours? Do they be long to a distinct class or do they include all classes? Are they city dwellers or country dwellers? Is the market local, state-wide, national, or international? What about competition? How many competitors have you? What is their relative strength? Who purchases your goods now? Is there an undeveloped market? What is the total consumption of goods of the kind you want to sell? What percentage of this consumption can you divert to your goods? Can the total consumption be increased? Can you get your share of the increased consumption? These and many other questions must be answered before the successful campaign begins. It is true that they are not always asked and answered con sciously. Marketing is not always a carefully con sidered activity. Many men have started to sell something withbut knowing the importance of ques tions such as these—without acquainting themselves with the facts that form the basis for the answers— and yet have blundered into success. This used to be done more frequently than it is today. Guess ing and lack of foresight in entering upon a selling campaigm did not in former days necessarily mean fail ure. The market was broad and eager, novelties were few and welcome, competition was relatively small; if the product was good, the seller could often gain his knowledge of the market thru expensive experi ence, and still be able to sell successfully. However, the golden days of easy marketing are gone. Unless he gives to the possible market the same careful con sideration that he gives to the product, the man who today has something to sell is fairly certain to go un der before he blunders upon the right market for his goods. The business cemetery is full of manufactur ers who have tried to sell their goods to the wrong people, of jobbers who have failed to adjust them selves to rapidly changing conditions in their terri tories, and of retailers who have overstocked or bought the wrong goods because of lack of exact knowledge of what their market was and what it wanted.