Mediquip Ltd. is a company dealing in distribution of medical equipment. The company recently imported 15000 units of sugar testing machines

Mediquip Ltd. is a company dealing in distribution of medical equipment. The company recently imported 15000 units of sugar testing machines to test the sugar levels without taking blood samples. For deciding the marketing strategy, the Chief Executive Officer of the company called a meeting of the marketing heads of different zones. In the meeting Sandeep, the North Zone Marketing Head, suggested that since the machines were sophisticated they need to visit hospitals personally, to explain its working to the hospital staff who would be using the machines. He also suggested that additional trained people may be recruited for the same.

Himanshu, another Zonal Head, added that since lot of money had been spent on the import of the machines, the company was short of funds to pay to the additional staff as suggested by Sandeep.

Rahul, a newly appointed Zonal Head of South Zone suggested that since the size of the order is not large, a detailed study of the factors determining the choice of channels of distribution is required before making the right choice.

(a) Identify the factors influencing the choice of channels of distribution which were discussed in the meeting.

(b) Also, explain briefly the other consideration to be taken care of in each factor identified in part (a).