Abstract
Recently the importance of distribution channel design has been focused on due to a turbulent environment. The channel design strategy involves the choice of an optimal channel arrangement including channel width, channel depth, the types of intermediaries to be used, and the specific responsibilities of each channel member. The purpose of this paper is to investigate changes of distribution intensity in the infant & children's wear brand from 1997 to 1999, when Korea has faced changes before and after IMF intervention that influenced the Korean economy greatly. Thus, this study provides channel managers with some guidelines for establishing and adjusting the infant & children's wear channel strategies. The data is collected by the Korean Fashion Brand Annual published by Apparel News Co., from 1997 to 1999. infant & children's wear brands are selected and analyzed with Pearson correlation. Statistic analysis has shown different results in the type of brands in terms of distribution intensity. The type of brands between infant's wear and those for children differ in price and launching period. In the case of infant's wear brands, the launching period and total sales should be considered in designing channel distributions, while for children's brands total sales are significant. As the price increases, children's wear brands are significantly linked to their distribution intensity only in certain times at the starting point of IMF intervention. IMF intervention do not seem to influence the distribution intensity of infant's wear brands much as it did children's wear brands. It seems that the infant's wear industry is more stable than the children s wear industry. As a result, the marketer who plans distribution intensity for the infant's and children's wear brands should consider total sales, the launching period and the price according to the type of brands he deals with.
