Marketing Process
Marketing is a managerial process by which products are matched with markets and through which ownership transfers are affected. It is a continuous flow of goods and services from the centers of productions and inventions to the centers of use or consumption. In the modern marketing process, the marketing situation is analyzed to identify potential marketing opportunities, strategies are formulated, tactical decisions are taken, plans are implemented and results are monitored. It involves ways that goods and services can be created for the customers to satisfy their needs and wants.
Division of Marketing Process
According to Clark, the modern marketing machinery involves three major processes i.e. concentration, dispersion and equalization of goods, which are mutually inter-related and interdependent.
Concentration
The concentration is the first process of modern marketing. It refers to gathering of goods in large quantity at a single point, so that these goods can be effectively and economically distributed among the customers as per their requirements. In this process, concentration inc1udes purchasing, storage, grading, standardization, transportation, financing, risk bearing, etc. It is necessary for those products which are produced throughout the year but consumed seasonally and for the products which are produced seasonally but consumed throughout the year. In other words, concentration is the collection of goods for the purpose of distribution.
Dispersion
The dispersion completes the process of modern marketing because the goods produced and concentrated have no value unless these are properly distributed to the needed consumers. It is the process through which the goods or services are delivered to their real consumers at the right time, at right place, in the right quantity and through the most appropriate channels of distribution. This work is usually performed by the wholesalers, who first store the goods and then sell to the retailers in small quantities. These retailers in their turn sell the goods to the real customers. Dispersion includes the performance of many different activities like collection, storage, gradation, standardization, transportation, risk bearing, etc.
Equalization
The process of equalization establishes effective co-ordination between the concentration and dispersion. The goods produced and concentrated in the markets have to be adjusted to meet the requirements of the people. Thus, the equalization is the process of adjustment of supply to the actual demand on the basis of time, quantity and quality. It is performed through storage and transportation.
To achieve pre-determined objectives of the business enterprise, it is essential that all the above processes of the modern marketing machinery must be well coordinated. Only then, the purpose of maximizing profits and maximum service of the society can be achieved. Thus, we can say, concentration, dispersion and equalization are the hearts of marketing process.
