No matter how well a product meets the needs of customers, without effective and efficient distribution it is unlikely to succeed in the marketplace. However, it would be misleading to suggest that producers or suppliers were entirely free to choose which organisations should form the channel for their product (s). In reality, the distribution strategy adopted by most producers more often reflects what is possible rather than what is ideally desired. McVey4 underlines the point when he states that:
“The middleman is not a hired link in a chain forged by a manufacturer, but rather an independent market, the focus of a large group of customers for whom he buys.”