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Marketing, transport and communication

Commerce · WAEC and JAMB · SS2 and SS3

The outward-facing part of commerce. Nigerian examples from the mobile money and e-commerce boom make strong answers.

What you need to know

  • The marketing mix is product, price, place and promotion.
  • Advertising types: informative introduces, persuasive competes, institutional builds the brand image.
  • Channels of distribution: producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer, though producers increasingly sell direct.
  • Functions of a wholesaler: bulk buying, bulk breaking, storage, transport, credit, advice to retailers.
  • Retail types: unit shops, mobile traders, supermarkets, departmental stores, chain stores, online stores.
  • Transport modes: road is flexible and door to door; rail suits bulk over land; water is cheapest for bulk over distance; air is fastest but dearest; pipeline suits liquids and gas.
  • Choice of transport depends on cost, urgency, nature of the goods, distance and available infrastructure.
  • E-commerce lets a small trader reach buyers anywhere, but depends on reliable payment, delivery and trust.

Key terms

Channel of distribution
The route goods take from producer to final consumer.
Hire purchase
Paying by instalments while using the goods; ownership passes only on the final payment.
Credit sale
Paying by instalments where ownership passes immediately at the point of sale.

Worked example

Distinguish between hire purchase and a credit sale.

  1. Both involve payment by instalments, so the difference must be elsewhere.
  2. Consider when legal ownership passes.

The mistake to avoid

Hire purchase and credit sale are not the same thing. The difference is when ownership passes, and that single point is what the question is testing.

In the exam

For "factors affecting choice of transport", give the factor and a short justification. Five justified factors beat ten bare ones.