Internet Sales vs. Channel Sales

In recent discussions with channel managers and internet marketing managers I've heard divergent points of view I'd like to open to public debate. According to the rules of internet marketing driven by analytics everything must be measured and all marketing expenses must be justified. This is also true for off-line marketing but measurement is not as precise. The beauty of e-marketing is that all internet touches are traceable -- pay per click, on-line ads, e-mail campaigns, downloads -- except when prospects buy your product or service off-line after learning about it from an e-marketing campaign without indicating the source.

Purchasing on-line is convenient for consumers and individual corporate buyers, but what about larger sales? That's where proponents of channel marketing and the direct sales team argue sales agent involvement is necessary for closing enterprise deals. Critics of the channel say reseller sales reps are just order takers that undercut pricing and reduce the company's gross profit margin. Channel defenders argue that the trusted adviser of a good reseller has the ear of technology buyers and can extend the publisher's/manufacturer's reach, assisting the vendor accelerate sales. Does this sound like Republicans and Democrats arguing about public policy?

Below are some questions that arise. What are your thoughts?

* Is it appropriate to keep spending marketing dollars on internet campaigns to the point of negative returns (because the real sales resulting are greater than that measured since some customers purchase off-line)?

* How do you effectively enforce minimum advertised pricing by resellers? How do you enforce MAP pricing if you use distributors? Should resellers' sales prices be higher than the manufacturer's on-line price?

* Is it effective for a manufacturer to state it has the lowest on-line price to encourage customers to purchase direct from its website?

* If you have effective on-line sales, should resellers even be allowed to sell your product on-line? Should customers only be allowed to purchase on-line direct from the manufacturer/publisher?

* What is an appropriate balance between e-marketing and channel marketing?

* If you believe resellers are order takers, what's the lowest acceptable margin you can offer?

* If you believe resellers help you sell your product, what's an appropriate margin to provide to encourage them to sell your product?

* How do you measure the effectiveness of your channel marketing expenditures?

* How do you determine the indirect impact of a manufacturer's e-marketing activities on channel sales?

Of course the first response to all of those questions is, "It depends." In my opinion the internet marketing team, the direct sales team and the channel sales team working together have important roles to play. How does your organization balance the roles and the allocation of marketing resources between the three?