You are contemplating adding direct selling activities to your existing bricks-and-mortar retail business to increase sales. You are concerned, however, that the negative aspects of direct selling outweigh the positive. Which of the following is a negative aspect of direct selling that you must mitigate in some way to be successful? It may be more expensive and time-consuming than using an intermediary Vertical conflict manufacturing product

One negative aspect of direct selling that must be mitigated to ensure success is the potential for increased costs and time consumption compared to using intermediaries. Direct selling involves managing the entire sales process without the assistance of an intermediary, such as a distributor or retailer, which means the business is responsible for all the tasks associated with selling the product directly to the customer. This can include manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and customer service.

Without intermediaries, the business might need to invest in developing its own marketing campaigns, setting up a sales infrastructure, training sales personnel, managing logistics, and handling other functions that intermediaries would typically cover. This can lead to higher operational costs and demands on time, as more resources are directed at managing these processes internally.

To mitigate these challenges, businesses can employ strategies such as leveraging technology to automate some of the sales and marketing processes, focusing on high-margin products to justify the extra costs, investing in training to improve the efficiency of the direct sales team, and optimizing the supply chain to reduce delivery times and costs.