The geographical location of consumers can affect a company's selection decision for the best distribution channels because there are a lot of environmental factors that can cause delays in distribution. A recent example of this was when that huge cargo ship got stuck in the Suez Canal for almost a week and delayed global trading operations significantly. The Suez Canal is a widely utilized water passageway for cargo ships to go through on their way to distributing goods globally. So when a massive cargo ship got stuck and held everything up for about a week, it caused billions of dollars of losses commercially and created a bunch of economic damage. The alternate route would have been to go around the continent of Africa, but that would have been an extremely expensive alternate route for some companies, which may or may not been less than what the damage the delay ultimately came out to be.

This wasn't the first time this has happened in the Suez Canal, in fact there was almost another cargo ship that got stuck again after that. The Suez Canal provides a vital direct route for international trade, so it is heavily relied on. Another environmental factor that affects the ships going through this narrow canal is the region's winds, which can blow ships off track causing blockages.

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Companies need to assess potential risks associated with their chosen distribution channels taking ... View the full answer