Route to Market
Distributor, direct retail, marketplaces and the governance required to combine them.
The route-to-market decision determines who owns the customer relationship, who finances inventory, who protects pricing and who is accountable when execution falls short.
Four common models
Distributor evaluation beyond country coverage
“We cover the whole region” is not a sufficient qualification. A distributor should be assessed account by account and capability by capability: category credibility, access to buyers, sell-out reporting, content execution, stock discipline, technical service, credit strength, marketing investment and willingness to work within agreed channel rules.
Exclusivity should follow performance
Exclusive rights can motivate investment, but broad exclusivity granted too early may block direct accounts, e-commerce or neighbouring-market opportunities. A more resilient structure links rights to specific countries, channels, accounts, minimum purchases, launch milestones and reporting obligations.
A practical decision sequence
- Define the first customer and channel hypothesis.
- Map stock, service, content and compliance requirements.
- Calculate workable economics through to expected street price.
- Evaluate partners against the actual target accounts.
- Set a limited validation period with measurable milestones.
- Expand rights only after execution is demonstrated.