| Wholesaling | The sale, and all activities directly related to the sale, of goods and services to businesses and other organizations for resale, use in producing other goods and services, or the operation of an organization.
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| Wholesaling middleman | A firm engaged primarily in wholesaling.
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| Merchant wholesaler | An independently owned firm that engages primarily in wholesaling and takes title to products being distributed. Sometimes called a wholesaler.
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| Agent wholesaling middleman | An independent firm that engages primarily in wholesaling by actively negotiating the sale or purchase of products on behalf of other firms but does not take title to the products being distributed.
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| Manufacturer's sales facility | An establishment that engages primarily in wholesaling and is owned and operated by a manufacturer but is physically separated from manufacturing plants.
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| Manufacturer's sales branch | A manufacturer's sales facility that carries a stock of the product being sold. Same as company sales branch.
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| Manufacturer's sales office | A manufacturer's sales facility that does not carry a stock of the product being sold.
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| Full-service wholesaler | An independent merchant middleman that performs a full range of wholesaling functions (from creating assortments to warehousing).
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| Truck jobber | A merchant wholesaler that carries a selected line of perishable products and delivers them by truck to retail stores. Same as truck distributor.
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| Drop shipper | A merchant wholesaler that does not physically handle the product being distributed, but instead sells merchandise for delivery directly from the producer to the customer. Same as desk jobber.
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| Manufacturers' agent | An agent wholesaling middleman that sells part or all of a manufacturer's product mix in an assigned geographic territory. Same as manufacturers' representative.
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| Broker | An agent wholesaling middleman that brings buyers and sellers together and provides market information to either party and that ordinarily neither physically handles products being distributed nor works on a continuing basis with those sellers or buyers.
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| Selling agent | An agent wholesaling middleman that essentially takes the place of a manufacturer's marketing department by marketing the manufacturer's entire output.
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| Auction company | An agent wholesaling middleman that helps assembled buyers and sellers complete their transactions by providing auctioneers who do the selling and physical facilities for displaying the sellers' products.
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| Import-export agent | An agent wholesaling middleman that brings together sellers and buyers in different countries. Export agents work in the country in which the product is made; import agents work in the country in which the product will be sold.
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| Physical distribution | All the activities involved in the flow of products as they move physically from producer to consumer or industrial user. Same as logistics.
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| Fulfillment | The act of packing and shipping orders to customers.
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| Online category manager | A distributor that handles e-commerce fulfillment in a particular product area for manufacturers and conventional retailers.
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| Supply chain management | The combination of distribution channels and physical distribution to make up the total marketing system.
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| Total cost concept | In physical distribution, the recognition that the best relationship between costs and profit must be established for the entire physical distribution system, rather than for individual activities.
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| Contract logistics | An arrangement under which a firm outsources various business tasks to one or more independent firms.
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| Physical distribution management | The development and operation of processes resulting in the effective and efficient physical flow of products.
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| Electronic data interchange (EDI) | Computer-to-computer transmission of orders, invoices, or other business information.
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| Economic order quantity (EOQ) | The optimal quantity for reorder when replenishing inventory stocks, as indicated by the volume at which the sum of inventory-carrying costs and order-processing costs are at a minimum.
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| Just-in-time (JIT) | A form of inventory control, purchasing, and production scheduling that involves buying parts and supplies in small quantities just in time for use in production and then producing in quantities just in time for sale.
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| Market-response system | A form of inventory control in which a purchase by a final customer activates a process to produce and deliver replacement items.
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| Collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR) | Method by which a producer or wholesaler and a customer, ordinarily a retail chain, jointly and interactively develop sales forecasts through a shared website and design marketing plans.
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| Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems | Strategy in which the various business functions of sales, manufacturing, purchasing, distribution, financial management, and human resources are integrated through the use of computer programs; also called enterprise software.
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| Private warehouse | A warehouse that is owned and operated by the firm whose products are being stored and handled at the facility.
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| Public warehouse | An independent firm that provides storage and handling facilities for individuals or companies for a fee.
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| Distribution center | A facility that has under one roof an efficient, fully integrated system for the flow of products-taking orders, filling them, and preparing them for delivery to customers.
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| Containerization | A cargo-handling system in which shipments of products are enclosed in large metal or wood receptacles that are then transported unopened from the time they leave the shipper's facilities until they reach their destination.
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| Intermodal transportation | The use of two or more modes of transportation to move a shipment of freight.
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| One-stop shipping | A transportation firm offers multiple modes of transportation of goods to its customers.
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| Freight forwarder | A specialized marketing institution that serves firms by consolidating less-than-carload or less-than-truckload shipments into carload or truckload quantities and arranging for door-to-door shipping service.
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| Package-delivery firms | Companies that specialize in the delivery of small packages and high-priority mail.
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