The goal of marketing is to spread information to customers and assure customer satisfaction while logistics involves developing schedules and plans for products to reach the customer well within the promised delivery timeline. Integrating marketing and logistics gives rise to marketing logistics which is planning and executing production and delivery in accordance with consumer demand. The primary goal of marketing logistics is timely and high-quality satisfaction of customer demand with minimal logistical costs.
What is marketing logistics?
According to Phillip Kotler, an American marketing author, “Marketing logistics involves planning, implementing and controlling physical flow of materials and final (finished) goods from the point of origin to the point of use of meet customer requirements at a profit.”
Simply put, marketing logistics is a way of ensuring quality products are delivered in the required quantity at the right time to the correct place, with the help of promotional activities.
Objectives of marketing logistics
The importance of marketing logistics for logistics companies is that it helps create a strategy to meet customer demands while still making a satisfactory profit. Here are the main goals of marketing logistics:
- Minimum total costs
- Maximum level of customer service
- Short-term profit maximisation
- Maximum advantage over competitors
Functions of marketing logistics and its role in fulfillment of orders
Marketing logistics has four important functions. These functions ensure that orders are fulfilled on time with the utmost customer satisfaction while assuring a decent profit margin per order to the company:
- Product delivery
Finding out who the customer is and where he/she lives is the first step of marketing logistics. It looks into fulfilling the order, on-time delivery, precise invoicing and zero damage to the products. Customers always expect 100% reliability on a company’s logistics transportation services and expect their products to be delivered on time. They might even have delivery preferences including scheduling the delivery for a specific time of the day which must be satisfied by the seller.
- Price
An important marketing logistics function is determining the drivers of the final price of the product. Pricing decisions can be based on both internal and external factors. Target customers, the product and the type of order are some of the factors that influence the price decision. Marketing logistics should accurately identify these factors which then contribute to fixing the price of a product.
- Place
Delivering the product to the right place, i.e., the customer’s address, is key to all logistics functions. Marketing logistics allows a company to simplify transactions between a logistics provider and the customer. The company must execute logistics in such a way that the customer is not aware of the difficult and long winding logistics flow and process. The customer will only care about receiving the parcel on time and not the logistics process the company follows.
- Promotion
When a new product is introduced to the market, it will first be promoted through various channels. Marketing logistics ensures that communication about the product is flawless by ensuring they collect the right materials from different departments to market the product.
For example, the product might be packaged in an attractive box featuring some artwork. This box with the artwork might be manufactured by an outside supplier. Marketing logistics ensures that all these entities work together and produce the marketing materials needed to promote the product.
Companies follow marketing logistics to ensure that their customers are satisfied by sticking to delivery timelines.
To find out the best logistics partners visit Tata nexarc’s Logistics and get connected with logistics companies offering Partial Truckload services.
Also Read: Fulfillment centres in India
Priyanka is a seasoned content marketing professional with more than 6 years of experience crafting various forms of business and technology sector content. Her insightful writing tackles critical issues faced by small-scale manufacturing businesses. Priyanka's clear and concise communication empowers businesses to make informed decisions and thrive in today's dynamic business environment.
