Distributor data
Distributor stock data for drinks brands: one view of volume and stock across Europe
Image generated with AIEvery week somebody at head office asks the same questions. How much did we really sell across all our markets? How much of it is still sitting in distributors’ warehouses? Who’s overstocked before the season starts, and who might run out of stock over Christmas? In a beer, spirits or soft drinks business that sells through distributors and wholesalers in several European countries, the answer is built by hand. Each distributor sends its data in its own format and on its own schedule, and someone spends days merging the files. By the time the answer is ready, the stock figures have already changed.
I work with FMCG manufacturers on Trade Data Hub at Asseco, a service that collects and organises data from distributors. Many drinks companies I speak to already get distributor stock data. They have the numbers, but each distributor’s file comes in its own layout. Distributors usually send stock every day, and some update it during the day. Layouts, product codes and the times they send files vary by distributor. Comparing Germany with Belgium then takes manual work.
Shipments look healthy until the orders stop
Your own sell-in figures tell you what left your warehouse. They say little about what happened next. A distributor can keep ordering from you for months while stock builds up in its warehouse, and your shipment figures look fine right up to the month it stops ordering. The gap between what you shipped and what the distributor resold becomes visible first in its stock.
That’s why I always read two numbers together. The first is volume: distributor sell-out (secondary sales), meaning what each distributor resold to shops, bars and restaurants. Distributors report it from their invoices, by outlet and SKU. The second is the stock that distributor holds in its own warehouse. Volume on its own shows what the distributor resold. Stock on its own can’t tell you whether a figure is high or low. If you put them together in one format soon after the distributors send their files, you can see whether the channel is healthy.
Distributor sell-out and stock, thousand cases
Bring every file into one format
Twenty distributors sending twenty formats won’t give you an answer for all your markets. One sends an Excel export with its own product names. Another sends a PDF. A third sends a direct feed from its own system (EDI) that only its IT team fully understands. The one format I mean is the one you see at head office, and the distributors don’t have to produce it: their files are converted after they arrive. Converting every file into this format replaces most of the manual merging. Each distributor keeps sending its data on its own schedule.
A common objection: a good analyst with Excel can handle this. With three or four distributors, that’s true. The trouble starts when the list grows to dozens of distributors across several countries, and product codes change with new listings and relaunches. In a spreadsheet, the same corrections are made again every time new files arrive. When they’re set up once as a mapping, a table that links each distributor’s codes to yours, they apply to every later file from that distributor until its export changes. Spreadsheet work also tends to depend on one person who knows every exception.
Count stock in days
A stock figure in cases doesn’t tell you what to do. Say two distributors each hold 2,000 cases, so they look identical in a stock report. One sells 200 cases a day, so its stock lasts 10 days. The other sells 20 a day, so the same stock lasts 100 days. The first could be out of stock within two weeks. The second holds over three months’ worth. Same figure, opposite decisions.
Distributor and product lines by status
Stock details by distributor and product
| Distributor | Product | Status | Last stock (cases) | Avg daily sales (cases) | Target (days) | Forward stock (days) | Suggested order (cases) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distributor 1 (DE) | Lager 0.5 L can, 24-pack | Risk of stock-out | 2,000 | 200 | 14 | 10 | 800 |
| Distributor 2 (BE) | Lager 0.5 L can, 24-pack | Overstock | 2,000 | 20 | 14 | 100 | 0 |
| Distributor 3 (NL) | Cola 1.5 L, 6-pack | Out of stock | 0 | 150 | 14 | 0 | 2,100 |
| Distributor 4 (IE) | Sparkling water 0.75 L, 6-pack | Normal stock | 3,600 | 180 | 14 | 20 | 0 |
Days of stock, based on each distributor’s average daily sales over recent months, show where to ship more and where to hold back. Shipping more cases to a distributor whose stock is already too high only raises it further. It’s a simple change of unit, and it’s the first thing I’d show a sales director.
That average is based on past months. Before a seasonal peak, I’d also compare stock with sales in the same weeks last year, since recent months won’t show the higher demand before Christmas.
In our reports, this measure is called forward stock. The target level, in days, is set for each product or product group when the system is first configured. The report then shows where stock won’t last that long and suggests how much the distributor should reorder.
Stock data also matters around price promotions for outlets or shoppers. Before the promotion starts, you can check whether each distributor holds enough stock to run it at the planned volume. During the promotion, you can see where stock is running low. If a warehouse runs empty, the outlets it supplies can’t sell the promoted product, and that part of the promotion brings no sales.
Gift packs and multipacks distort volume
Drinks have a seasonal problem that’s easy to miss in a spreadsheet. It comes from gift sets before Christmas, multipacks for summer, and mixed cases and display units for promotions. A distributor often reports each of these as one line with its own code. If you count that line as a single unit, your volume is wrong. It’s also wrong in a different way every season, so this year’s numbers don’t compare directly with last year’s.
The answer is to break every composite product down to its individual SKUs before you add anything up. A twelve-can multipack becomes twelve cans of that SKU. A gift set becomes the bottles inside it. Once you do that consistently, seasonal packs stop distorting your trend lines and you can compare this December with last December. We break multipacks, sets and display units down to SKU level once the contents of each pack are defined, and this can also be done on the files distributors send.
Map every distributor’s codes to yours
The same bottle has a different code at many distributors, and often a different name too. Your best-selling lager can carry three different codes in the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany. Comparing markets starts with mapping all of them to your own codes.
It’s routine administrative work. Once the mapping exists and is kept current, a new listing is a small change to it, and a new distributor joins a structure that already exists. Without it, every change means rebuilding the report by hand, and markets can’t be compared.
Take what distributors already produce
Distributors send data in their own formats. Each distributor works with too many manufacturers to prepare a separate report by hand in every manufacturer’s format.
My advice: ask for the files they already produce and do the conversion on your side. Excel, CSV, PDF or a direct feed from the distributor’s system (EDI or API) all work. We map the files that arrive to your product codes, so the distributor doesn’t have to change its reports.
What one view gives you
The data in this view comes directly from the distributors that share their sales and warehouse stock with you. You can see where stock is building up faster than it sells.
Current stock also helps when a sales rep places an outlet’s order through a distributor. It shows which distributor warehouse can fill the order. Some of our customers ask for the latest stock data right before an order is placed, and we provide it at that point.
The reports also show which distributors haven’t sent data recently and estimate how much of your sales is missing from the totals, so you know whom to remind.
This is the work Trade Data Hub does. Trade Data Hub integrates 1,600+ distributors across 27 countries, giving 85+ FMCG manufacturers distributor sell-out visibility into 900,000+ outlets. The manufacturers using it range from global leaders to companies working with about a dozen distributors. Distributor sell-out and stock data are part of every Trade Data Hub deployment. Among the drinks companies on Trade Data Hub is a leading international beverage company, across 27 markets in Europe and Africa.
Andrzej Masłowski
Deputy Director of Sales and Implementations
Asseco Business Solutions
Andrzej runs sales and implementation for Trade Data Hub and Trade Terms & Settlement. His work is bringing distributor sell-out and stock from many countries into one view: the files distributors send, the mapping to your own product codes and the stock measures that sales teams act on.
If you are comparing distributor stock across markets, or deciding where to ship more before the season, talk to him.
Frequently asked questions
What is distributor stock data?
It’s the stock each distributor or wholesaler holds in its own warehouse, reported by SKU. Read together with distributor sell-out (secondary sales), it shows whether goods are moving through the channel or building up in the distributor’s warehouse. Stock on shop shelves is a separate measure.
Why measure distributor stock in days?
The same number of cases can last a few days at one distributor and several months at another. Days of stock, based on each distributor’s average daily sales over recent months, show who is overstocked and who is close to running out of stock. A sales team can act on that. Before a seasonal peak, it’s also worth comparing stock with sales in the same weeks last year. In Trade Data Hub reports, this measure is called forward stock, and it is measured against a target level set for each product or product group.
Do distributors have to change their reporting format?
No. Distributors can keep sending the files they already produce: Excel, CSV, PDF or a direct feed from their own system (EDI or API). The data is mapped to the manufacturer’s own product codes after it arrives, and multipacks, sets and display units can be broken down to individual SKUs.
Let’s talk about your distributors
Get in touch with my team through the Trade Data Hub page if your view of distributor sell-out and stock across markets is still built by hand. Tell us how many distributors and markets you work with and what they send you today, and we’ll discuss what one view could look like for your business.
