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Marketing is related to the exchange of goods and services. Through its medium the goods and services are brought to the place of consumption. This satisfies the needs of the customers. The following activities are undertaken in respect of the exchange of goods and services:

1. Gathering and Analysing Market Information:

Gathering and analyzing market information is an important function of marketing. Under it, an effort is made to understand the consumer thoroughly in the following ways:

2. Marketing Planning:

In order to achieve the objectives of an organisation with regard to its marketing, the marketeer chalks out his marketing plan. For example, a company has a 25% market share of a particular product.

The company wants to raise it to 40%. In order to achieve this objective the marketer has to prepare a plan in respect of the level of production and promotion efforts. It will also be decided as to who will do what, when and how. To do this is known as marketing planning.

3. Product Designing and Development:

Product designing plays an important role in product selling. The company whose product is better and attractively designed sells more than the product of a company whose design happens to be weak and unattractive.

4. Standardisation and Grading:

Standardisation refers to determining of standard regarding size, quality, design, weight, colour, raw material to be used, etc., in respect of a particular product. By doing so, it is ascertained that the given product will have some peculiarities.

This way, sale is made possible on the basis of samples. Mostly, it is the practice that the traders look at the samples and place purchase order for a large quantity of the product concerned. The basis of it is that goods supplied conform to the same standard as shown in the sample.

5. Packaging and Labelling:

Packaging aims at avoiding breakage, damage, destruction, etc., of the goods during transit and storage. Packaging facilitates handling, lifting, conveying of the goods. Many a time, customers demand goods in different quantities. It necessitates special packaging. Packing material includes bottles, canister, plastic bags, tin or wooden boxes, jute bags etc.

6. Branding:

Every producer/seller wants that his product should have special identity in the market. In order to realise his wish he has to give a name to his product which has to be distinct from other competitors.

7. Customer Support Service:

Customer is the king of market. Therefore, it is one of the chief functions of marketer to offer every possible help to the customers. A marketer offers primarily the following services to the customers:

(i) After-sales-services

(ii) Handling customers’ complaints

(iii) Technical services

(iv) Credit facilities

(v) Maintenance services

8. Pricing of Products:

It is the most important function of a marketing manager to fix price of a product. The price of a product is affected by its cost, rate of profit, price of competing product, policy of the government, etc. The price of a product should be fixed in a manner that it should not appear to be too high and at the same time it should earn enough profit for the organisation.

9. Promotion:

Promotion means informing the consumers about the products of the company and encouraging them to buy these products. There are four methods of promotion: (i) Advertising, (ii) Personal selling, (iii) Sales promotion and (iv) Publicity. Every decision taken by the marketer in this respect affects the sales. These decisions are taken keeping in view the budget of the company.

10.Physical Distribution:

Under this function of marketing the decision about carrying things from the place of production to the place of consumption is taken into account. To accomplish this task, decision about four factors are taken. They are: (i) Transportation, (ii) Inventory, (iii) Warehousing and (iv) Order Processing. Physical distribution, by taking things, at the right place and at the right time creates time and place utility.

11.Transportation:

Production, sale and consumption-all the three activities need not be at one place. Had it been so, transportation of goods for physical distribution would have become irrelevant. But generally it is not possible. Production is carried out at one place, sale at another place and consumption at yet another

12.Storage or Warehousing:

There is a time-lag between the purchase or production of goods and their sale. It is very essential to store the goods at a safe place during this time-interval. Godowns are used for this purpose. Keeping of goods in godowns till the same are sold is called storage.

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