Peter Ganza, director of marketing at Magentrix, recently sat down with our resident channel coach, Paul Bird, to answer some of the most common questions individuals have been asking online.
What is the meaning of channel partner?
Paul Bird: “A channel partner is someone that helps people buy products, services, or technology. It is usually an intermediary between the end user of a product or service and the original manufacturer or provider of that service. A couple of examples - if you look at a company like Amazon, Amazon doesn't manufacture most of the products that they sell but what they act as is a channel partner to help consumers buy products listed on their site. The same thing applies in retail. When you look at something like a grocery store or any retail store - they don't manufacture the products they sell but they work through distribution channels and other people that manufacture these products to bring them to you in one location - in their retail outlet.”
When looking at the most frequently asked channel questions on Google there were a few variations of this question. The highest was answered in a previous post, “What is a Channel Partner?” This post, “What is the Meaning of Channel Partner?”, was tied for second with “What is the Definition of Channel Sales?”
In all three cases the answer is similar. Any indirect sale or seller is considered a ‘channel partner’.
Do you have anything to add to this topic? Feel free to share and comment below. What does your definition of a channel partner look like?