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  6. Imagine that you are a producer. How do
intermediaries make it easier to sell your
product?
  7. Why are retailers called service
businesses?
Connect to Business
  1. Talk with the manager at your
workstation or the owner or manager of
a local business or store department. Find
out the channels of distribution that the
company participates in. Make a chart
that shows the channel of distribution.
  2. Intermediaries often perform some of
the Four Ps. For example, retailers often
advertise. Find an ad from a retailer that
features the products from more than one
manufacturer.
  3. Find an ad for a company that sells real
estate. How much would the real estate
company have had to spend if it had to
buy all the properties advertised?
Explore Careers
  1. Read about real estate brokers in the
Occupational Outlook Handbook, available
in libraries or online at www.bls.gov/OCO/.
What do real estate brokers do? What
qualifications do they need? Visit the
Web site of the National Association of
Realtors
(www.realtor.org). How could
membership in this organization help
you in your career in real estate?
  2. Read the article, “Wholesale Trade” in
the Occupational Outlook Handbook. At the
top right of the first page of this article
appears the following: (NAICS 42). What
does this mean? How does the Handbook
describe the role of the wholesale
industry? Describe the “marketing
ploy” used by many retailers to make
themselves look like a lower-price source
of goods. What kinds of jobs are available
in the wholesale trade?
  3. Visit the Web site of FedEx (www.fedex.
com) or UPS (www.ups.com). Find the
careers link. What kinds of careers are
available at the company? Do they have
part-time positions for students? Browse
the job openings. Choose a job. What is
the job title? What does a person in that
job do? What are the qualifications? Does
the job appeal to you? Explain why or
why not.
Connect to the Internet
  1. Visit the Web site of a retailer. Find the
locations of this retail store. What type
of market coverage does this store have?
Explain why the store has this type of
coverage.
  2. Choose a consumer product that you
use. Use the Internet to develop the
supply chain for that product. Find out
the specific channel members for that
product. How does channel management
help get the product to the consumer?