Question

"Every time I travelled, people asked me to bring them chips, khakra and pickles from all over the country," says Anoushka. Finally, she and her colleague, Sumeet, decided to make a business out of it. They launched a facebook page, asked people what they wanted, and they came up with a list of about 100 places and tied up with two dozen vendors to begin with. They were servicing people from Jaipur who wanted spices from Kerala, people from Panipat who wanted halwa from Jammu and people from Delhi who ordered for fresh tea leaves from Darjeeling. Through their business they wished to bridge the gap between sellers and buyers. The business is now worth millions.
Explain any two important activities that Anoushka and Sumeet will have to be involved in for making the goods available to the customers at the right place, in the right quantity and at the right time.

Answer 1

Activities/Components of Physical Distribution: (Any Iwo)
1. Order processing: A good physical distribution system should provide for an accurate and speedy processing of orders, in the absence of which goods would reach the customers late or in wrong quantity or specifications.
2. Transportation: It is the means of carrying the goods and raw materials from the point of production to the point of sale. It is important because unless the goods are physically made available, the sale cannot be completed.
3. Warehousing: It refers to the act of storing and assorting products in order to create time utility in them.
4. Inventory Control: Higher the level of inventory, higher will be the level of service to customers but the cost of carrying the inventory will also be high because lot of capital would be tied up in the stock. Thus, a balance is to be maintained in respect of the cost and customer satisfaction.