This paper reviews the Health Indicators of FMCG distributors in India which determine how the distributor performs in the market. Distributors are the mainstay of FMCG marketing in India. Marketers often grapple with the difficulties in assessing the capability of a distributor and sudden collapses of distribution structures in an area is a common phenomenon. This research is aimed at enabling an FMCG marketer in predicting the performance of a distributor by analysing 7 essential leading factors like investment in stocks, credit in market, godown space, funds-leverage ratio, sales value to investments ratio and sales value to manpower ratio. Ex post facto qualitative as well as quantitative techniques have been used in this research work. A population survey (census) was conducted of 103 FMCG distributors in the state of West Bengal to represent all districts and all cities and represent the population strata in the correct proportions. This is probably the largest distributor survey ever undertaken in India in order to identify the health parameters of this very important link in the chain of distribution. Correlation method has been used to ascertain the relationships. After an analysis of seven factors, it has been observed that the future failure of an FMCG distributor can be predicted by studying the four specific factors of percentage mechanized Routes, Capital Leverage, Warehouse Space and IT usage. As a seminal work, this study provides a framework that is going to work in a country like India and other similar South Asian Countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. This research identifies the lead indicators of distribution failure.
Keywords
Channels of Distribution, Channel Relationships, Distributor Management, Marketing Channels, Marketing in India.
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