Is marketing moving from the manufacturer to the retailer?

Abstract

Marketing has traditionally been regarded as an activity carried out by manufacturers — mainly in the sense of aiming persuasive communications towards retailers and the consumer. Actually this is inappropriate on four counts: there is nothing traditional about marketing, as a formlly organised business function — it is an innovation of the 1960s and 1970s as far as the UK is concerned; in fact, many manufacturers do not operate marketing functions; this said, marketing is much broader than just advertising and promotion; and, as will be shown here, marketing is increasingly the responsibility of retailers and distributors rather than manufacturers. This article examines the changing view of what marketing is actually about, and tracks the trends which are becoming apparent for marketing decision making to move down the channel of distribution, away from the manufacturer towards the retailer. The implication which is drawn is that increasingly retail firms will find it necessary to examine their own marketing strategies and the need to build marketing organisations to support these policies. The article concludes with a list of key questions for the retail manager to evaluate the need for a marketing organisation structure and its possible form.

Citation

Piercy, N. (1984), "Is marketing moving from the manufacturer to the retailer?", Retail and Distribution Management, Vol. 12 No. 5, pp. 25-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb018242