8.1 Introduction
Place or distribution is often the forgotten element of the marketing mix. It is thought of as a necessary evil of marketing, and one that can be relegated to another department. However, distribution is extremely important to the successful marketing of both goods and services; while distributing a product generally represents 30 to 40 per cent of the product's cost, it has probably the greatest impact on sales of all the elements of the marketing mix. This is because distribution brings time and place utility to the product and if the product is in the wrong place at the right time or the right place at the wrong time, it is useless.