DISTRIBUTOR SELECTION FOR A SWEDISH HAND TOOLS SUPPLIER ENTERING THE UKRAINE THE CASE OF LUNA EXPORT AB

Abstract

Western companies of today are becoming more and more interested in the Eastern European markets, and are therefore moving their operations eastward. Luna Export AB, a Swedish tools and machines supplier, is considering following this trend by entering the Ukraine with its product line – Teng Tools – through the means of distributors. This project investigates which distributors Luna Export AB should choose.

Not much research has been conducted in the area of distributor selection, but rather on issues regarding the process of why choosing a distributor as an entry mode as well as the establishment of channel strategies. Therefore, we developed our own criteria list in order to choose the appropriate distributor. Consequently, this research shows how we went about when selecting distributors for Teng Tools in the Ukraine. The result ended up with three potential distributors, whereof two of these are considered to be the most compatible for Teng Tools.

After conducting a field study, the result indicated that Luna needed to reconsider its choice of entry mode through distributors. Instead, it is argued in this research that the company should consider using the mean of agents/representatives.