The document discusses various aspects of physical distribution and promotion. It describes the key activities in physical distribution as transportation, stock/inventory, warehousing, and order processing. It then provides details on each of these areas. The document also discusses elements of the promotional mix like advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and publicity. It elaborates on advertising by covering definitions, functions, benefits to manufacturers, customers and society, and different media for advertisements like newspapers, magazines, outdoor advertising and others.

1. Prasanth.S.R
Assistant Professor of
Commerce Education

2. PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION
Physical distribution is basically concerned with
handling and movement of goods from the place of
production to the place of distribution . The major
activities involved in physical distribution basically
constitute four decision areas;
 Transportation
 Stock or inventory
 Warehousing
 Order processing

3.  TRANSPORTATION
Transportation refers to the
physical movement of persons and goods
from one place to another . Physical
distribution of goods requires a mode of
transportation. Selection of the mode would
depend on the type of the product , the
place where it is demanded , the quantity in
which it is demanded and the urgency of
use.

4. TRANSPORTATION OF GOODS

6. STOCK OR INVENTORY
The level of stock ,which a firm should
hold is dependent on meeting its
distribution objectives . Stock refers to the
holding of finished goods in anticipation of
demand. Holding of stock is essential to
meet unforseen demand that might arise
and to avoid the possibility of rejecting
orders received.

9.  WAREHOUSING
Every firm needs to store its finished
goods until they are sold . Such storage
protect the goods from being damaged .
This enables only through warehouses . The
firm can choose between its own
warehouses or hire the service of a
warehouse having an agent.

13. ORDER PROCESSING
The manner in which customers
orders are procured or processed is a
factor which determines the extend of
services available to them . Order
processing takes the following steps;

14. STEPS IN ORDER PROCESSING
 Receipt of order by the salesman.
 Transmission by the salesman to the firm.
 Entry of the order into the firm’s books.
 Checking the customer’s profile.
 Inventory and production scheduling.
 Invoicing and shipment.
 Receipt of payment.

15. PROMOTION
Promotion deals with informing and
persuading the customer about the firm’s product .
Promotion mix involves decisions about advertising ,
personal selling and other sales promotion
techniques. A combination of advertising , personal
selling , and sales promotion activities are used for the
promotion of goods

16. ELEMENTS OF PROMOTIONAL MIX
 Advertising.
 Personal Selling.
 Sales promotion.
 Publicity.

17. ADVERTISING
Advertising is any paid form of non-personal
presentation and promotion and promotion of
ideas , goods or services of an identified sponsor .
It involves dissemination of information about a
product or a service to target customers through
newspapers , magazines , radio , T.V., outdoor
displays, etc.

21. PERSONAL SELLING:
It implies a face –to-face contact
between a seller and a buyer . Here the
salesman tries to draw the attention ,
stimulate the interest and arouse the desire
of potential buyers .

22. Activities other than mentioned above to promote a
product are known as sales promotion activities. It refers
to short-term activities, which are aimed at promoting
sales. The peculiarity of sales promotion is that it brings
stronger and faster response from the prospective buyers.

27. PUBLICITY
It involves non paid form of non personal communication.
Publicity takes place when the matter is covered in the form of
news in the media free of cost . Generally , new products , services
or ideas are reported in the mass media as a news item.

28. ADVERTISING
Advertising is any paid form of non-
personal presentation and promotion of ideas ,
goods or services of an identified sponsor.
Advertising and personal selling are the
important tools of sales promotion.

29. “Advertising consists of all the activities involved in presenting to a
group a non-personal , oral or visual , openly sponsored message
regarding a product , service or idea; this message is an
advertisement , is disseminated through one or more media and is
paid for by the identified sponsor”
William J. Stanton.

32. FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING
Advertising has become an essential marketing activity in
the modern era. It performs the following functions:
 It promotes the sale of goods and services by informing and
persuading the people to buy these products. A good advertising
campaign helps in winning new customers.

34. FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING
 It helps in the introduction of a new product in the
market. A business enterprise can introduce itself and
its products to the public through advertising.
Advertising enables quick publicity in the market.
Advertising enables large –scale production. The
business firm will be able to sell on large scale with
help of advertising . Mass production will reduce the
cost of production per unit.

36. FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING
 Advertising educates the people about new product
and its uses. It is advertising which helps people
adopting new ways of life and betterment 0f standard
of living . Advertising helps the firm to build up it
reputation by communicating its achievement and its
services to the customers.

38. BENEFITS OF ADVERTISING
The following are the important benefits of advertising to ;
Manufactures
Customers
Society

39. BENEFITS TO MANUFACTURES
1.Advertising helps in introducing new products.
2.It creates new taste among the public.
3.Advertising assists to increase the sales of existing product.
4.Advertising helps in steady demand of the product.
5.Advertising helps in meeting the forces of competition in the
market.
6.Advertising is used for increasing the good will of the firm.
7.Advertising increases the morale of the employees of the firm.

40. BENEFITS TO THE CUSTOMERS
 Advertising helps the customers to know about the existence of
various products and their prices.
 Advertising is dissemination of information concerning an idea,
product or services to induce action in accordance with the
intention of the advertiser.

41. BENEFITS TO THE SOCIETY
 Advertising provides employment to peoples engaged in writing,
designing,and issuing advertisements.
 Advertising promotes the standard of the living of the people.
 Advertising educates the people about the various uses of different
product and this increases their knowledge.
 Advertising sustains the press and other media.

43. MEDIA OF ADVERTISEMENT
 Press Advertising Media
 Outdoor Advertising
 Film Advertising
 Radio Advertising
 Television Advertising
 Direct Mailing Advertising
 Window display Advertising
 Speciality Advertising

44. PRESS ADVERTISING MEDIA
Press advertising, i.e. advertising through news papers, magazines,
journals, etc. comes under this. Advertisement through news
papers reach almost every place and are read by all kind of people.
Magazine and periodicals are an excellent medium of
advertisement.

45. OUTDOOR ADVERTISING
Outdoor advertising has gained wide popularity these days. Its
purpose is to the attention of the people at busy road and
markets.It includes poster displays, billboard displays and electric
displays. Posters are fixed on walls of building , bridges and other
places. Printed or billboard displays involves the advertisements
directly involves the advertisements directly painted on board
meant for this purpose. Electrical displays involves the use electric
light or neon tubes to attract the attention of the people.
Vehicular displays has a become fashion these days to use modes
of public transport for advertising.

46. FILM ADVERTISING
Films are an important medium of advertisement. Business
concerns as usually get their short motion picture
prepared and distribute it to different cinema houses.

47. RADIO ADVERTISING
Radio advertisement is gaining greater popularity these days.
Advertisements are broadcast from the transmitting station of the
commercial services of All India Radio.

48. TELEVISION ADVERTISING
Television is the fastest growing medium of advertisement because
of huge expansion of electronic media. It appeals through both the
eye and the ear

49. DIRECT MAILING ADVERTISING
Direct mail is probably the most selective of all advertising media.It is
used to send message directly to the customer.

50. WINDOW DISPLAY ADVERTISING
Window display is highly effective medium of
advertisement. Goods can be displayed in artistically
laid out window at the shop front or at important
centres like railway station and bus stops.

51. SPECIALITY ADVERTISING
Many advertisement firms offer specialty articles to the
present and prospective customers. These articles may be
diaries, pen, etc the name of the advertiser is printed or
inscribed on the specialty items.

52. MEDIAS OF ADVERTISEMENT
A manufacturer or a trader can make use of the following media to spread his
message to the people;
 Press Advertising.
 Outer Advertising.
 Film Advertising.
 Radio Advertising.
 Television Advertising.
 Direct mail Advertising.
 Window Display Advertising.
 Special Advertising.

53. PRESS ADVERTISING MEDIA
Press advertising, i.e. advertising through
news papers, magazines, journals, etc. comes
under this. Advertisement through news papers
reach almost every place and are read by all
kind of people. Magazine and periodicals are an
excellent medium of advertisement.

55. NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING
News papers reach almost every place and are
read by all kinds of people. Therefore ,
newspapers can be used as a medium of
advertisement with great advantage.

57. MAGAZINE ADVERTISING
Magazines and periodicals are an excellent
medium of advertisement of advertisement
when a high quality printing in colour is desired.
Magazine advertisement can be directed
towards a particular class of people.

59. OUTDOOR ADVERTISING
Outdoor advertising has gained wide popularity
these days. Its purpose is to the attention of the
people at busy road and markets .It includes poster
displays, billboard displays and electric displays .
Posters are fixed on walls of building , bridges and
other places. Printed or billboard displays involves the
advertisements directly involves the advertisements
directly painted on board meant for this purpose.
Electrical displays involves the use electric light or
neon tubes to attract the attention of the people.
Vehicular displays has a become fashion these days to
use modes of public transport for advertising.

63. Films are an important medium of
advertisement. Business concerns as
usually get their short motion picture
prepared and distribute it to different
cinema houses.

64. RADIO ADVERTISING
Radio advertisement is gaining greater
popularity these days . Advertisements are
broadcast from the transmitting station of the
commercial services of All India Radio.

66. TELEVISION ADVERTISING
Television is the fastest growing medium of
advertisement because of huge expansion of
electronic media. It appeals through both the
eye and the ear . Products can be demonstrated
as well as explained in the film advertisement.

68. DIRECT MAILING ADVERTISING
Direct mail is probably the most selective of all
advertising media . It is used to send message directly to
the customer . But a severe limitation is posed by the
difficulty of getting and maintaining a good mailing list.

69. WINDOW DISPLAY ADVERTISING

72. SPECIALITY ADVERTISING
Many advertisement firms offer speciality
articles to the present and prospective
customers. These articles may be diaries,
pen, etc the name of the advertiser is
printed or inscribed on the speciality
items.

73. SELECTION OF THE ADVERTISING MEDIA
For selecting appropriate media of advertisement the
following facts should be considered;
 Nature of the product.
 Nature of market .
 Objectives of advertising.
 Circulation of Media.
 Financial considerations.
 Type of audience.
 Media used by competitors.

75.  NATURE OF THE PRODUCT
Product may be classified into two broad
categories ,consumer goods and industrial
goods. Consumer goods can be advertised in
news papers, magazines, radio, T.V. etc. , but
industrial goods can be advertised only through
specialized trade, technical and professional
journals.

76.  NATURE OF MARKET
Nature and extend of market can be
determined by various factors like geographical
region, size of the population and purchasing
power of the population. The market may be
either local or national. Newspapers are highly
suitable for advertising products that can be
sold throughout the country.

78.  OBJECTIVES OF ADVERTISING
The objectives of the advertising program are
very important to determine the choice of
advertising media. The objectives may be
introduction of a new product , to increase demand
of an existing product or to fight competition by the
rivals. If advertising is to be carried on a massive
scale to have big impact in the Short and long – run,
a combination of various advertising media may be
chosen .

79.  CIRCULATION OF MEDIA
If the media have greater circulation, the
message of the advertiser will reach a large
number of people. It may be mentioned that
newspapers have the widest circulation ,
where as other media have limited and
selective circulation.

80.  FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The cost of advertising is an important
consideration and it should be considered in
relation to; the amounts of fund available , the
circulation of the media. The cost benefit
analysis will enable the advertiser to take right
decisions in regard to selection of the
advertising media.

82.  TYPE OF AUDIENCE
If the message is to be conveyed to
literate or less literate people, radio, television
and cinema advertisement will serve the
purpose in a better way . Newspapers ,
magazines and displays and direct mail may
be used to convey the message to the
educated people.

83.  MEDIA USED BY COMPETITORS
The advertising media also depends upon the
media used by the competitors. If a product
being advertised in a newspaper, the
producers of its substitutes will find it better
to advertise them in the same newspaper.

84. SALES PROMOTION
It refers to short-term activities, which are
aimed at promoting sales. The peculiarity of
sales promotion is that it brings stronger and
faster response from the prospective buyers.
Sales promotion can be done at customers
directly or at intermediaries’ office or at the
firm’s sales office.

85. SALES PROMOTION ACTIVITIES
 Rebates.
 Discounts.
 Free Gifts.
 Contests.
 Refunds.
 Packaged premium.

87. A deduction is made on the price of
the product to make it attractive to the
buyers to buy on special occasions. This is
usually done to clear excess stock or to
block competitive moves.

89. Certain percentage of price is
reduced as discount from the price of
the product. This induces the buyers
to buy or buy more.

91. FREE GIFTS
The consumer is given a
free gift along the product.
Gifts make buyers attractive to
buyer to buy more.

94. CONTESTS
The consumers
are required to
participate in some
competitive event
and winners are
given some awards.

96. REFUNDS
The seller offers to refund a
part of price paid by the
customer on production of some
proof of purchase.

98. PACKAGED
PREMIUM
Marketers pack some gifts
inside the product package and this
will create motivation among the
customers to buy the product.

100. SALESMANSHIP OR PERSON SELLING
Salesmanship or personal selling
involves face to face contact between
the seller and the prospective customer
with an intention of selling some
products. Salesmanship is the art of
presenting an offering that the prospect
appreciates the need for it.

101. FEATURES OF SALESMANSHIP
 Salesmanship involves persuasion of customers.
 Salesmanship involves winning buyer’s confidence.
 Salesmanship involves providing information.
 Salesmanship aims at mutual benefits.

103.  SALESMANSHIP INVOLVES PERSUASION OF CUSTOMERS.
A salesman must have the ability to
convince the people to buy his product. The
customer is not to be pressurised, but
influenced favourably by the salesman. Thus
salesmanship is the skill of handling people
and persuading them to buy a certain product
or service.

104.  SALESMANSHIP INVOLVES WINNING BUYER’S CONFIDENCE
Modern salesmanship aims at
educating the customer and providing a
solution to his problems . This helps in
winning his confidence. Misinterpretation
cheating and dishonesty by the salesman
can’t help him to win the buyer’s confidence
forever.

106. SALESMANSHIP INVOLVES PROVIDING INFORMATION
Salesmanship is an educative process . It tells
the people the ways in which they can satisfy their
needs. Salesman provides information about the
product available , their broad features, uses and
utility to the customers.

107.  SALESMANSHIP AIMS AT MUTUAL BENEFITS
Salesmanship is a two- way process. It results in
benefits not only to the sellers but also to the sellers but
also to the customers. It helps in solving the problems of
the buyers and satisfying their needs. Consumer
satisfaction leads to increase of sales volume for the
salesman.

108. PERSONAL SELLING

109. IMPORTANCE OF SALESMANSHIP
Salesmanship consists of individual and
personal communication in contrast to the mass
and impersonal communication through
advertising. Personal selling helps in sales
promotion. It is very important to the
manufactures and traders because it helps them
to sell their products. It also helps them in
knowing the tastes ,habits, attitudes and
reactions of the people.

110. IMPORTANCE OF SALESMANSHIP
Personal selling is an important method of
demonstrating the product to the customers and
giving them full information about the product. It
is easier to persuade a person to buy a product
through personnel explanation. A good sales
person educates and guide the customers about
the features and utility of the product . Sales man
can also handle the grievances of the customers.

111. QUALITIES OF A GOOD SALESMAN
A successful salesman should possess the following qualities;
 Good personality : A salesman should have good appearance ,sound health,
etc.
 Cheerfulness; A cheerful salesman will win more customers.
 Enthusiasm; He should have enthusiasm or interest in his work.
 Initiative; He should have initiative then only he will be able to think and act
for himself.

112.  Self confidence; He must have abundant of self confidence in
his ability to convince the customers.
 Good Memory; He should be able to remember faces and facts.
 Courtesy; He should be courteous.
 Shrewdness: He should be able to read the minds of customers
quickly.
 Loyalty; He should be loyal to the firm. He must not damage the
reputation of the firm.
 Honesty;He should be honest , sincere and co-operative in his
dealing.

113.  Foresight; He should have keen imagination , so that he can
develop new methods of approagh to the sales problem.
 Communicating Ability; He should have a pleasing voice , a sense
of humaour , etc.
 Education and Training; Good education and training is essential to
make a good salesman.
 Knowledge of the products; He should have a thorough
knowledge of the products in which he deals.

114. PUBLIC RELATIONS
The marketing concept focuses on
customer. Public relation means the relation of
an organization with the public. It includes all
efforts by an organization which leads to a
favorable opinion about the organization in the
minds of the public. Co-operation of public is
essential for the smooth operation of business.

115. PUBLIC RELATION TOOLS
 News.
 Speeches.
 Events.
 Written materials.
 Public service activities

116. NEWS
This is in the form of news coverage relating to
corporate stories or events.

117. SPEECHES
Speeches by company executives at the
various forum of shareholders, bankers, select
customer groups and employees produce company
image.

118. EVENTS
Organizing news conferences, multimedia presentations,
press tours, star studded programmes, etc.

119. WRITTEN MATERIALS
Written materials sent to relevant public
group can influence their opinion.

120. PUBLIC SERVICE ACTIVITIES
Business firms now a days associate themselves with
public service. They join hands with other voluntary
organizations to undertake welfare activities to create
a favorable image.