Brooks Brothers Distribution Marketing Channels and Channels of Distribution

Marketing channels are the means by which goods get to consumers. For apparel, this typically refers to the different retail channels that a company uses. In luxury goods, these can be described in the form of a matrix with one axis reflecting company-owned channels and non-company channels and the other axis reflecting online and bricks and mortar retailing channels. Most luxury apparel firms use a mix of company-owned stores and boutiques within department stores -- or even just distributing in department stores. The strategy, as reflected by a wide range of such apparel companies, typically reflects the high-end merchandise in the company store and non-company channels offering clothes from any point on the price/quality spectrum. Brooks Brothers typically only offers high-end clothing, but does so through both its company-owned stores and through other outlets as well. For example, Brooks Brothers has recently entered into a deal with Nordstrom to distribute Brooks Brothers apparel in about 30 Nordstrom stores nationwide (Palmieri, 2011). The company also markets on its own website, but the deal with Nordstrom allows that retailer to also market Brooks Brothers apparel on its website. Thus, Brooks Brothers may only offer a single line, but it does so through all four marketing channels typically used by firms in its industry. This use of different marketing channels allows the company to make its goods more widely available, and to target a variety of different markets (Berry, 2010).

Channels of distribution are slightly different, in that they reflect the behind-the-scenes movement of goods. Whereas consumers can see changes in the marketing channels, they may not see changes in the distribution channels. Distribution channels are defined as "all the organizations through which a product must pass between...

Distribution channels can influence customer service levels, inventory management and the costs associated with bringing goods to market. Luxury goods companies often use unique channels of distribution, for example using a courier service like FedEx to do their shipping rather than using more basic truck-based freight forwarders. Such a tactic improves service but significantly increases the cost of the goods, which only works when customers are not price sensitive. For Brooks Brothers, there is expected to be an element of price sensitivity, so more conventional distribution channels are expected to be used.
Distribution Channels as Marketing Strategy

Distribution channels play an important role in marketing strategy. The example above of using couriers is one example -- a luxury goods company like Hermes can ship an item halfway around the world between stores using a courier, so that a customer can have his or her demands fulfilled within 48 hours, even if the product is unavailable in that region (a customer in Singapore can order from a store in Vancouver, for example, or London). This allows the company a high level of service that differentiates it even from many other luxury goods firms. For Brooks Brothers, the marketing strategy is also influenced by its choice of distribution channels. It was noted that the use of department stores allows the company to target different customers than it would at its own stores. Nordstorm argued that one of the values of Brooks Brothers is that it would attract customers ten years younger than the company's current customer base. The same works in reverse for Brooks Brothers --…