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About Creating and Modifying Distribution Lists

Typically, marketing administrators create distribution lists that control the company products that are distributed to a customer's distributor accounts and the retail outlets that they serve.

Before creating a distribution list for a customer, you must create the appropriate distribution codes. Distribution codes impose a logic on the distribution of products across the account-category hierarchy that is inclusive or exclusive. In both systems, the distribution codes govern how products move from key accounts to subaccounts. For information about creating accounts and account hierarchies, see Managing Accounts.

For each product you add to the key account's distribution list, an account-product record is automatically created. The distribution code you enter for each product on the key account's distribution list is matched with the distribution codes given to each subsidiary account.

With inclusive distribution, the sequence or order that you assign to a group of distribution codes in the list of values (LOV) is used to assign rank to accounts. For example, outlets might have different distribution codes in the Beverages category. Table 6 shows the distribution codes and the order that is assigned to those codes in an inclusive system.

In an inclusive distribution system, subaccounts with the Premium distribution code receive the entire key account's list of beverages, that is, products with Premium, Standard, or Limited distribution codes. Outlets with the Standard distribution code receive a subset of the entire list, which includes products with Standard and Limited distribution codes. Outlets with the Limited distribution code receive only those products with the distribution code of Limited.

With exclusive distribution, each distribution code defines a specific subset of products that do not depend on the order that you assign to the distribution codes. Table 7 shows an example of distribution codes and products in an exclusive distribution system.

In an exclusive distribution system, outlets with the Premium distribution code in the Beverages category receive a subset of the key account's distribution list of products, which includes products that are part of the Premium category with Premium distribution codes. Outlets with the Standard distribution code for the Beverages category receive a subset of the entire list, which includes only those products with the distribution code of Standard in the Beverages category. Outlets with the Limited distribution code in the Beverages category receive only the products with the distribution code of Limited in the Beverages category.

You can also add unauthorized products to subaccount distribution lists. An unauthorized product is a product that you add to a subaccount's distribution list outside the inclusive or exclusive distribution system.