Situation: You have just developed and begun producing a wearable fitness monitor. There are several entrenched competitors such as FitBit and Apple Watch, who already have products in the market, which are selling well. Your product has higher accuracy than those of competitors (eliminating problems such as accidentally recording steps taken while the wearer is driving), is waterproof and has longer battery life. The product can also track, record and upload data to the cloud, including heart rate, irregular heart beat, activity levels and more, which can be viewed from either a web browser or a smart phone app. Despite the newness of the product, you have achieved design and manufacturing efficiencies that enable you to build it at low cost compared to competitors.

Problem: Develop a distribution channel strategy.

Questions:

What value-added functions do you want your channel to perform on your behalf?

What distribution strategy for North America (within NAFTA) do you recommend: Should you sell direct (online), use multi-level distribution, sell only to large chains or some other set of channels? Or some combination of these? Justify your recommendation, including explaining you will avoid having too much friction between your channels, especially if you want to sell both indirect and direct.

What is your international (outside NAFTA) distribution strategy? If it's different than your North American strategy, explain why.

Why would a retailer be motivated to sell your product instead of just sticking with FitBit's or Apple's products? You need to think not only of product factors but also other sources of appeal to retailers.