Companies can use several channel options, some of which may be culturally determined. For example, according to the Journal of International Marketing, most Canadian software companies – 40 percent – enter international markets by exporting directly from Canada, but some open thier own sales offices, use cooperative arrangements with other exporters, use a local distributor or reseller, or employ a mixture of these options. British companies, on the other hand, exported directly60 percent of the time, relying much less on the other options than the Canadian firms.
Channel configurations for the same product will vary within industries – even within the same company – becuase individual markets often have unique features that require adjustments. This sometimes means that companies have to deviate from policies established and accepted in one market when entering another, but global marketing requires new thinking and new options. Channels for some companies vary according to their market experience, too. For example, AMPAK, a packaging machinery manufacturer, uses locally based distributors in markets where its packaging is well-established but enters new markets by working through trading companies or by selling to larger companies that will sell AMPAK’s products alongside thier own. What matters is using channels flexibly and appropriately in each market.
We often define channels by their length and width. Length refers to how many levels or types of intermediareis are involved; width refers to the number of each type of these intermediaries. For example, consumer product marketing channels might be wide because the manufacturer wants to sell through as many retail intermediaries as possible, while an industrial products channel might be narrow becuase the manufacturer chooses to sell exclusively through a single distributor.
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