Meaning & use
buying channel
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablebusiness
A way or place through which customers buy a company's products, such as a shop, a website, or an app.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a buying channel' or 'several buying channels'.
Patterns
- a buying channel for something
- use a buying channel
- through a buying channel
The company sells through three buying channels: its own stores, its website, and large supermarkets.
Mobile apps have become an important buying channel for younger customers.
If you want to reach more people, you should add an online buying channel.
nouncountablebusiness
The particular route or method a single customer chooses when making a purchase, considered from the customer's point of view.
Grammar: Often used in the plural when comparing how different customers shop.
Patterns
- choose a buying channel
- a customer's preferred buying channel
- switch buying channels
I prefer to use the same buying channel every time, so I always order from the app.
Customers often switch buying channels depending on whether they need the item quickly.
Understanding which buying channel a shopper prefers helps shops plan their stock.
Word forms
| plural | buying channels |
|---|
Common combinations
- online buying channel
- Their online buying channel now accounts for half of all sales.
- preferred buying channel
- We send special offers to customers through their preferred buying channel.
- direct buying channel
- By selling through a direct buying channel, the brand avoids paying shop fees.
- expand a buying channel
- The company plans to expand its buying channel into two more countries.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sales channel
- This looks at the route from the seller's side, while 'buying channel' looks at the same route from the customer's side; in business writing they are often used interchangeably.
- distribution channel
- This is wider and covers how goods move from maker to seller, not just how customers finally pay for them.
Word family
Commonly confused: buying channel or marketing channel?
buying channel vs marketing channel
A marketing channel is how a company tells people about a product, such as social media or TV. A buying channel is where the customer actually pays for it.
Practice
The company added a new ______ so that customers could order directly from its app instead of only in stores.
Choose one answer.
'Buying channel' fits because the sentence is about where customers make a purchase. 'Marketing channel' is about advertising, 'distribution channel' is about how goods reach sellers, and 'supply chain' covers the whole production and delivery system, not just the point of purchase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “buying channel”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.