The same product is a different business in different channels
Selling a product in a store, through a dealer, on an e-commerce site, on a marketplace, through a corporate sales team, or in an export channel may look like selling the same product, yet each means a different customer expectation,
a different cost structure, a different pricing and margin logic, a different service level, and a different competitive environment. Sales channel segmentation is grouping channels according to these differences and defining separately, for each channel segment,
the product selection, pricing, campaigns, delivery and service terms, targets, and the way results are measured. The channel is not the road to the customer; it is a dimension that determines how the business is done.
When channels are not divided into segments, two typical problems arise. The first is channel conflict: the marketplace price undercuts the dealer’s price, the e-commerce campaign erodes store sales, and the corporate sales team
quotes directly to the distributor’s customer. The second is invisible profitability: because cost and margin are not separated by channel, it goes unnoticed that the channel that brings turnover and the channel that brings profit are not the same;
the channel with the highest turnover may be leaving the lowest margin once returns, commissions, and logistics costs are deducted. Both problems arise from channels being lumped together under a single “sales” heading.
In Minerva, sales channels are defined through the business channels structure, a component of the operational organization, and together with geographic regions, business units, and business partner segmentations they make up the sales organization.
For each channel segment, separate product and service catalogs, price lists, discount and campaign rules, and delivery and payment terms can be defined; stores, the B2B and B2R portals, marketplace integrations, and
corporate sales transactions are tied to the same channel definition. Because orders, shipments, returns, costs, and collections are tracked by channel, channel profitability, channel-based targets and commission calculation, price consistency across channels, and
channel conflict analysis can be reported directly. When a new channel is opened, the reports are not rewritten; the new channel is added to the same structure.
Do not dissolve your channels into a single sales figure; manage each channel with its own rules, its own cost, and its own profitability.