Notes for owners · Industry playbooks
How beverage brands check summer loading against sell-through
A distributor's invoice shows what you pushed into the godown, not what reached shops. Here is how a beverage brand compares summer loading with sell-through before the monsoon arrives.
The GullySales team · Updated 6 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
Rules for this trade differ by state and professional body, and they change. Check the current position with your own council or adviser before you act on anything here.
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Compare what you billed each distributor with what his salesmen billed to shops, and with what is left in his godown. If the first is large, the second small and the third high, you have loaded the distributor. You have not reached the market. A beverage brand that checks this in the middle of the season can still correct it. One that checks in July usually finds out through returns and unpaid claims.
Why does summer loading look like success?
Drinks sell in the heat. Distributors know it, so they order big in March, and the brand's billing sheet looks wonderful. But the order is a bet on the weather and on the distributor's own cash. It is not a count of retailers who asked for the product, and the two get confused all the time.
When the monsoon comes early or the wedding season is thin, the stock sits. Bottles with shelf life ticking down are pushed at any price, damaged cases are claimed back, and the distributor starts keeping rival brands near the front of his godown. Meanwhile your primary number stays good. It stays good right up until the claims arrive.
What three numbers do you need from each distributor?
You need only three, and each can come from a visit and a sheet of paper.
| Number | Where it comes from | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Primary: cases billed to him | Your own invoices | What you pushed in |
| Secondary: cases his salesmen billed to shops | His billing software or sales book | What moved out |
| Closing stock: cases in the godown | A physical count, by pack and manufacturing date | What is still stuck |
The three should reconcile, give or take breakage. When opening stock plus primary does not equal secondary plus closing stock, something has gone somewhere: returns, a sale to another distributor, or a mistake. Ask about it on the same visit.
How do you count the shops, not just the cases?
Cases tell you volume. Shops tell you reach. A distributor can move a large order to three wholesalers and look busy.
Ask for the outlet-wise sheet: which shop bought, which pack, how many. From it you can count how many outlets bought at all, how many bought twice and how many took the new pack. Those counts tell you whether the brand is spreading or sitting. A repeat order from the same shop is the best sign you will get.
For example, take a goli soda and jeera soda brand in a district of Karnataka with two distributors. Both bill the same cases in April. One bills them to thirty shops across four beats. The other bills them to five wholesalers who then sit on the stock. The invoice looks identical. Only the outlet sheet shows which distributor is building the brand.
How should schemes be paid?
If you pay a scheme on cases billed to the distributor, you pay him to load. Pay it on outlets reached, or on stock sold to shops as shown by his billing, and loading stops being the goal.
Settle scheme and damage claims on a stated day. A distributor holding a list of unpaid claims will push the brand with the shortest list. Keep yours short. Write down the rules for near-expiry and leaking stock, and agree them before the season, not after the first dispute.
It also helps to tell distributors what you will look at. If they know the outlet sheet and the stock count are part of the scheme, they fill the sheet. If it feels like a favour, it gets skipped in the busiest week.
What should a salesman check on the beat?
The distributor's salesman is the only person who sees the shop weekly. Give him a short list to carry. Is the stock fresh, are the bottles cold, is any pack missing, is a rival brand in your cooler, did the retailer ask for something you do not make. A few minutes at each shop, recorded on the sheet.
A cooler lent to a shop is worth checking at every visit. If it holds a rival's bottles, move it to an outlet that sells yours.
What if the distributor will not share his numbers?
Some will not, at first. Billing data feels private to a man who built the business himself. Start with the one thing you already have the right to see: stock you supplied, on your own scheme claims. Ask for the sheet as a condition of the claim, and be plain that you are not auditing his other brands.
A distributor who still refuses is telling you something about how much of his business your brand is. That is worth knowing before the next loading, and it may be a reason to appoint a second distributor in the district.
What to do next
Pick the three distributors with the biggest primary numbers and visit each before the season ends. Count the stock. Copy the outlet-wise sheet and write the three numbers side by side. An afternoon will show you which distributor is building the brand and which one is only holding it. Then read the sales management for FMCG and beverage brands page and the FMCG and beverage brands overview. If you want a second pair of eyes on your own distributor numbers, book the free audit.