Marketing & Sales

Guides on marketing, advertising, sales management, distribution and retail, with Indian examples.

Entrepreneur walking from a business plan to an opening shop
Entrepreneurship, Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: After writing a business plan, an entrepreneur should refine it with feedback, set measurable goals and KPIs, choose

Manager measuring a leading competitor with charts, illustrating benchmarking
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: Benchmarking compares a firm’s processes and results with the best performers. Advantages: it reveals performance gaps, brings in

Support agent, order packing and home installation steps, illustrating elements of customer service
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: Customer service has three stages. Before the sale: a written service policy, the right organisation, flexible systems and

Planner viewing a demand forecast linked to a warehouse, truck and store
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: Supply chain forecasting follows six steps: understand the objective of the forecast, integrate demand planning and forecasting across

Ship, truck and plane on a global route beside coins and a calculator
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: The main factors affecting logistics costs are deregulation of transport, changing customer expectations (faster delivery and small online

Logistics manager coordinating warehouse, packing, trucks and service desk, illustrating logistics duties
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: A logistics manager makes sure products reach the right place at the right time and cost. The job

Illustration of a broken link between factory, warehouse, truck and store showing lack of coordination in a supply chain
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: Lack of coordination in a supply chain causes the bullwhip effect, where small changes in customer demand turn

Worker scanning a barcode with a satellite-tracked truck and dashboard, illustrating supply chain IT
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: Supply chains depend on information technology to track goods and share data. The main technologies are barcoding and

Warehouse worker scanning a parcel with screens showing connected trucks and orders
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: Information technology makes a supply chain faster and more accurate. It manages information across partners, links software and

Seven connected gears driving a supply chain, illustrating supply chain drivers
Marketing & Sales

Quick answer: The supply chain drivers are facilities, production, inventory, transportation, information, sourcing and pricing. Chopra and Meindl list six