Industry
FMCG and Consumer Goods
Distributor, sales force and trade systems for brands selling through general trade. FMCG brands sell through distributors to lakhs of kirana stores, plus modern trade, e-commerce and quick commerce, each with its own terms. Primary sales are known, but secondary and tertiary sales, stock at distributors and the real cost of schemes arrive late and incomplete. Software fits in the route to market: distributor systems, salesman apps, scheme management and the data that ties them together.
- Packaged foods and beverages
- Personal care and home care brands
- Dairy and frozen foods
- Consumer durables and electricals
- Regional and emerging D2C brands moving into general trade
The pressure points
What slows fmcg and consumer goods teams down
- No view of distributor stock
- Distributors run their own billing software or Tally. The brand learns about stock-outs and near-expiry stock only when a salesman complains.
- Schemes and claims settled by hand
- Trade schemes, display incentives and damage claims are calculated in Excel, disputed by distributors and settled months later.
- Order taking eats selling time
- Salesmen write orders in a book or call them in, and spend the evening entering them, time that could go on visiting more outlets.
- Too many channels, one plan
- Modern trade, marketplaces and quick commerce need different packs, prices and service levels, but planning still happens in one sheet.
Systems this sector runs on
The software we build and connect
Each of these can be built new, extended from what you already use, or connected to your existing ERP and accounting.
- Dealer and Distributor Management SystemDealer and distributorDistributor management with billing to retailers, stock, claims and secondary sales flowing to the brand daily.
- Customer Relationship ManagementCRMOutlet universe with classification, beat plans, visit history and retailer contacts.
- Supply Chain and Warehouse ManagementSupply chain and WMSDepot and C&F stock, batch and expiry tracking, and dispatch planning against distributor orders.
- Enterprise Resource PlanningERPPrimary billing, pricing, credit control, GST and accounts, often SAP or Tally depending on size.
- Business Intelligence and Management DashboardsBI and dashboardsPrimary and secondary sales, numeric distribution, lines per call and scheme spend by region and channel.
- E-commerce Store and Multi-vendor MarketplaceE-commerce and marketplaceB2B ordering for retailers and D2C stores, plus feeds to marketplaces and quick commerce partners.
Built for this sector
Systems specific to fmcg and consumer goods
The work that generic software does not cover, and where most of the value sits.
- Sales force automation app
- Beat plans, outlet check-in with location, order taking with schemes applied, collections, merchandising photos and day end summary.
- Trade scheme engine
- Schemes defined once by channel, region, SKU and slab, applied at billing and reconciled into claims automatically.
- Retailer ordering on WhatsApp
- Retailers reorder from a catalogue on WhatsApp in their language, and the order lands with the distributor.
- Expiry and returns management
- Near-expiry visibility at distributors, liquidation schemes, saleable and damaged returns and credit notes.
Where AI helps
AI use cases with a clear return
Suggested orders by outlet
Suggests an order for each retailer on the beat from past purchases, season and current schemes.
Salesmen take larger, better balanced orders in less time
Claim verification
Checks distributor scheme and damage claims against invoices, scheme rules and photos, and flags mismatches.
Claims settle faster with fewer disputes
Shelf photo checks
Reads shelf photos for brand presence, share of shelf and planogram compliance in modern and general trade.
Merchandising audits cover more stores
Demand forecasting
Forecasts by SKU, region and channel using secondary sales, seasonality, festivals and promotions.
Fewer stock-outs at distributors and less ageing stock
Retailer queries in local languages
Answers retailer questions about schemes, credit and deliveries on WhatsApp in Hindi, Gujarati or Tamil.
Distributor staff spend less time on the phone
What your team would see
- Secondary sales this month
- ₹14.2 Cr
- Outlets billed
- 38,460
- Lines per call
- 4.6
- Claims pending over 30 days
- ₹82L
Weekly secondary sales (₹ lakh)
Numeric distribution by region
- Gujarat68
- Maharashtra61
- Madhya Pradesh47
- Rajasthan52
- Uttar Pradesh39
A sample of the kind of dashboard we build for this sector. Figures are illustrative.
Connects with
- SAP
- Tally at distributors
- Distributor billing software
- WhatsApp Business
- Quick commerce and marketplace portals
- GST e-invoicing and e-way bill portals
- UPI and payment collection
Rules we design for
- Legal Metrology Act
- FSSAI regulations
- GST e-way bills
- DPDP Act
- Consumer Protection Act 2019
- Plastic Waste Management Rules (EPR)
Typical stack
Read more
Work and writing for this sector
- Project · O2EAI agent that reads supplier invoices and posts them into Tally for a distributorA regional FMCG distributor in Gujarat supplying kirana stores and modern tradeRead the case study
- Project · FDEDemand forecasting by SKU and region for an FMCG companyA packaged foods and snacks company selling through distributors across western and central IndiaRead the case study
- Project · O2EB2B ordering portal for FMCG dealers, built on ShopenUpA regional FMCG distributor in Gujarat supplying packaged foods and home care brands to retailers and sub dealersRead the case study
Before you start
FMCG and Consumer Goods: common questions
Our distributors use Tally. Do they need to change?
Not always. We can pull invoices and stock from Tally with a small connector, or give smaller distributors a simple billing app.
Can the salesman app work offline?
Yes. Beats, outlets, prices and schemes are stored on the phone, orders sync when the network returns, and the app is built for low cost Android phones.
How do you handle quick commerce?
We bring in the sales, stock and PO data each platform shares, so quick commerce sits in the same reports as general and modern trade.
Talk to us
Working in FMCG and consumer goods?
Tell us which process hurts most. Someone who knows the sector will reply with two or three options and rough hours.
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Tell us what you are trying to build.
Share the problem in a short call. You leave with a clear view of the approach, the team and the cost.
A specialist replies within one working day. The first conversation is free.