Distribution Analytics
See how widely each of your products reaches the outlets you sell to — and where the gaps are.
Use this when you want to answer "How many shops actually stock this product?" and "Are we losing shelf space we used to hold?" The numbers update from real orders and shelf audits, so you can spot weak coverage and act before sales slip.
📷 [SHOT: distribution-1] — web — Distribution analytics screen, all four measures shown with a product selected — caption: "Distribution analytics at a glance: ND, WD, ECO, and OSA-ND."
The outlet universe
Every measure on this page compares against your outlet universe — the full set of outlets in the slice you're looking at (see the Glossary). When you narrow the slice to one territory, the universe shrinks to that territory's outlets. Keep that in mind: a percentage always answers "out of which outlets?".
Numeric Distribution (ND)
Numeric Distribution (ND) is the share of outlets that actually bought a product. It counts every outlet equally — a tiny kiosk and a large supermarket each count as one.
The app divides the outlets that billed the product by every outlet in the universe.
Example: Of 100 outlets, 60 bought the product during the period. ND is 60%. (Example only — your numbers will differ.)
What you learn: how broadly the product is picked up across your accounts. A low ND means many outlets simply aren't carrying it yet.
Weighted Distribution (WD)
Weighted Distribution (WD) also measures presence, but it weights each outlet by how much it sells. Presence in a big, high-volume outlet counts for more than presence in a small one.
The app divides the sales throughput of outlets that bill the product by the total sales throughput of all outlets.
Example: Only 30 of 100 outlets stock the product, so ND is 30%. But those 30 happen to be your largest outlets and account for 70% of total volume — so WD is 70%. (Example only.)
What you learn: how much of your real selling power the product reaches. When WD is much higher than ND, the product is in the right big outlets but missing from many small ones. When WD is much lower than ND, you're present in small outlets but absent from the heavyweights — a bigger problem than ND alone shows.
Tip: Always read ND and WD together. The gap between them tells you whether your distribution problem is "too few outlets" or "the wrong outlets".
Effective Coverage (ECO)
Effective Coverage (ECO) is the share of outlets that actually bought anything in the period — a productive outlet is one with at least one submitted order. It isn't about a single product; it's about whether the account is alive.
The app divides productive outlets by the whole universe.
Example: Of 100 outlets assigned in a territory, 80 placed at least one order this month. ECO is 80%. The other 20 were visited on paper but bought nothing. (Example only.)
What you learn: how many of your accounts are genuinely active. A falling ECO is an early warning that outlets are going dormant, even if your top accounts still look healthy.
On-shelf-availability ND (OSA-ND)
On-shelf-availability ND (OSA-ND) compares what was ordered with what's actually on the shelf. It uses the merchandising audit (the in-store shelf check — see Merchandising audit) rather than orders.
The app divides outlets whose latest audit marks the product available by the outlets that were audited.
Example: Reps audited 50 outlets. In 40 of them, the product was actually on the shelf. OSA-ND is 80%. (Example only.)
What you learn: the gap between buying and selling. If ND says 90% of outlets bought the product but OSA-ND says only 60% have it on shelf, stock is sitting in back rooms, sold out without reorder, or never made it to the display. That gap is lost sales you can recover with a visit.
Note: ND comes from orders; OSA-ND comes from shelf audits. A wide gap between them is one of the most useful signals on this page.
Slice the numbers to find the gap
Every measure can be sliced so you can drill from the big picture down to the exact problem. Slice by:
- Product — a single item.
- Category — a group of related products.
- Company — a brand or supplier.
- Territory — a region, area, or route.
Best practice: Start wide (whole territory, whole category), find the weakest number, then slice tighter until you reach a single product in a single area. That's the gap a rep can fix on their next beat.
📷 [SHOT: distribution-2] — web — Distribution screen with the territory and category slicers open — caption: "Slice by product, category, company, or territory to pinpoint a gap."