Over the last year, we’ve written lots of articles showing you how to use key IRI/Nielsen measures. In this post, I’ll pull together several of those lessons in a step-by-step mini case study. The goal of this analysis is a common one: convince a retailer to increase the number of varieties for our target […]
distribution
Are You Getting Your Fair Share of Distribution?
There may be an opportunity to increase sales at some retail customers by making sure that you are getting your fair share of distribution. The basic concept is that if your brand has, say, a 25% share of category dollar sales then it should also have at least a 25% share of the category distribution. […]
Total Distribution Points: Master of All Distribution Measures
We have already discussed 2 key measures relating to distribution: % ACV Distribution and Average Items Carried. For product aggregations above the item level, % ACV Distribution provides a measure of distribution breadth and Average Items Carries covers depth. But what if you want to have one measure that summarizes distribution, taking into account both […]
6 Common Questions About Average Items Carried
Learn why Average Items Carried is important in this previous post. Even though Average Items Carried is pretty straightforward, here are some questions (and answers!) that often come up when the measure is new to an organization. Can I add together Average Items Carried across periods or geographies? NO! It is a non-additive fact , since it is […]
How To Identify Distribution Opportunities When Your Brand Is Already “Everywhere”
As mentioned in a previous post, shoppers cannot buy something if it’s not in the store! That’s why having good distribution is so important to your business. What can you do to increase distribution when your brand is already in at least 90% ACV distribution? Let’s look at an example. Say there are 3 brands […]
How to Calculate Average Items Carried
If Average Items Carried (or Average Items Selling) is not available on your database, it is easy to calculate in Excel. It is just the sum of % ACV Distribution of all the items divided by the % ACV Distribution of the brand. Here is an example: Say a brand is made up of 4 […]




