Project work

Project Theme: Understanding Distributor Business model and Operations

 Focus on company assigned for study (See Page-3)

 Methodology
o Primary study: Discussion with distributor and/or company ASM thru
semi-structured questionnaire
 Study and analyze distributor operations (See detailed scope in page-2)
 Submit a report on channel operations and business model (Word or PPT)
with your learning and insights
 As the group members are different cities, it may be a good idea for each
member to do the study independently in her/his town and submit an
integrated report, highlighting insights for each market
 As a precursor to the study, please do a secondary study on the company
on product and financial performance
 Back- Up project
o If there are serious restrictions on doing a primary study even by
phone, the secondary study may be conducted in great detail to
include last 15 year performance covering sales, profit, Selling costs,
Advertising costs, Advertising campaign ( for one major product line),
category market size and growth and relative market share trends,
digital campaign creatives and spend etc

Page 1 of 3
 Scope of project.
a) Brand/Company profile: Secondary research before market work
b) Distributor profile
I. Product lines handled (tenure for each line)
II. Turnover for each line
III. Markets serviced
IV. Other business interest
c) Discussion points with distributor
I. Location of factory/production unit
II. C&F/warehouse from where stocks are dispatched
III. Product range, pricing, margins. Product attributes
IV. Number of times stocks dispatched per month (flexible/defined)
V. Terms: Payment to company. Payment process (Cheque/RTGS/DD)
VI. Financial and other Support from company for local promotion or manpower
d) Distribution Infra (Indicative list)
I. Warehouse—Space/ Cost per Sq.ft./ Quantity that can be stored in say 100 Sq.ft.
II. Redistribution units (Van/tricycle etc.)
III. Manpower: Sales, Delivery, Collection, Accounts/admin
IV. Office infra: ACs, PCs, Furniture
e) Distribution Business model
I. Revenue, gross margin (%),
II. Opex: Rent, Electricity, Communication, Stationery etc
III. Capex
IV. Working Capital working capital investment in stock and market credit
V. ROI
f) Market operation
I. Beat plan: Market coverage servicing frequency and process
II. Order booking or ready stock (immediate spot delivery)
III. Number of retailers by outlet type/classification
IV. Indicative sales dispersion across different outlet type/class
V. Market O/S by type of retailer
VI. Credit number of days
g) Market development
I. Schemes/Events/programs/ For retailer/Distributor/ Sales executive
h) Report should cover your analysis of the business operations
 Competitive benchmarking where relevant and if available
 Key insights/learning on distribution policies/processes/systems/market development

Page 2 of 3
 Company/ Brand Assigned to each Group

Group Number Company

1 Nestle
2 Amul
3 Marico
4 Dabur
5 Britannia
6 Hindustan Unilever
7 Godrej
8 Asian Paints
9 Philips Lighting
10 MTR
Data and analysis can be for all the products handled by the distributor for
the company. If there are differences in some aspects such as margin
across different product lines, please capture details for main product
lines

Page 3 of 3