Territory Mapping in Indian FMCG Distribution
A look at how regional FMCG distributors carved sales territories in the mid-2010s, and why the shift from tenure-based beat plans to demand-density mapping changed how field sales teams were sized and compensated.
[Placeholder text — replace with your research.] Through the early 2010s, most Indian FMCG distributors assigned sales territories the same way their predecessors had for decades: by geography and tenure, with senior salesmen inheriting the busiest routes regardless of how demand had actually shifted. By 2015, a handful of larger distribution houses began experimenting with demand-density mapping — using outlet-level sales history to redraw "beats" (daily sales routes) around actual purchase volume rather than road distance.
This note sketches out the mechanics of a beat plan: how many outlets a salesman on foot versus a van-based salesman could realistically cover in a day, how secondary sales data (distributor-to-retailer, as opposed to company-to-distributor) was used to flag under-served pockets, and why frequency of visit mattered more than territory size for perishable and high-turnover categories.
Open questions for further research: how did the shift affect salesman compensation structures built around fixed territories, and what happened to relationship-based selling once beats were redrawn purely on volume?