Deposit performance: Your best-performing deposits aren’t always the ones you think…

When you manage a region, you quickly learn to “read” the field: long-standing relationships, mutual trust, and steady volumes can create the feeling that you truly know your most strategic deposits.

Yet as soon as sell-out data is analyzed, a very different picture of the market emerges.

The deposits you assume are strong aren’t always so.

Those you believe to be fragile sometimes hold untapped potential.

And between these two extremes lies a whole gray area: performances that are harder to read because they remain invisible when relying solely on sell-in tracking.

This is precisely where sell-out data becomes a decisive tool for a Regional Manager. It provides simple, concrete, and actionable indicators to truly understand what is happening on the ground.

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The sell-in volume trap: A misleading view of deposit performance

The first instinct is often to judge a deposit’s performance by the volumes it purchases.

But this is a biased indicator:

– a deposit may buy large volumes… and resell very little, creating a windfall effect;

– another may buy less… but sell through very quickly, revealing underexploited potential.

This misinterpretation is common: nearly 80% of agri-food suppliers do not track their sell-out performance in a structured way, due to the lack of simple tools to leverage this data.

For a Regional Manager, this leads to two consequences:

– visits are prioritized where there is no real urgency;

– truly struggling deposits are overlooked—those that most often result in delisting or a loss of local visibility.

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The game-changing indicator: Sell-out sales velocity

Sales velocity is an immediate indicator of a deposit’s momentum and performance.

It makes it possible to identify:

– deposits that truly convert your volumes into sales;

– those where SKUs are stagnating;

– those where a simple field action can reignite the business.

In user feedback, this perspective is often cited as one of the most powerful levers for prioritizing field visits and fine-tuning regional action plans.

In practice, two deposits of the same size can show major gaps:

One sells 70% of its volumes in 30 days, the other in 90 days. The actions required are no longer the same at all.

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Another essential angle: Assortment presence and health

A high-performing deposit is not just one that sells.

It is a deposit that sells the full set of references that are essential to the brand.

Thanks to sell-out data, you can spot in just a few seconds:

– ranges that are missing or under-represented;

– SKUs underperforming in certain points of sale;

– local discrepancies that explain a slowdown in the category.

In your existing articles, this analysis is identified as one of the main ways to anticipate—and avoid—delisting, especially when certain references start to drop off without field teams noticing early enough.

For a Regional Manager, this indicator becomes a true route-planning guide:

Where to go? Who to meet? Which products to support?

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Identifying high-potential deposits: The hidden opportunity in your data

There are “dormant” deposits.

They sell reasonably well, with no red flags… yet they could sell much more.

Their signature?

– strong sales velocity;

– responsive end customers;

– incomplete or weakly supported assortments.

These are ideal deposits for:

– targeted promotional activation;

– assortment expansion;

– temporary in-store visibility;

– a joint activation plan with the sales force.

In your client cases, this “growth reservoir” effect appears regularly: a simple reading of harmonized data makes it possible to identify underexploited areas that were previously invisible to field teams.

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Why your “obvious” deposits aren’t always your priority deposits

When deposits are ranked by sell-in volumes, the result is a familiar list.

When they are ranked using sell-out indicators, the order almost always changes.

What emerges then is:

– “historical” deposits in difficulty, where an action plan is urgently needed;

– sites reputed to be solid but where certain ranges are losing momentum;

– peripheral deposits showing the strongest growth;

– areas where an additional field visit can generate real business impact.

This renewed view of the field transforms the Regional Manager’s role:

Field visits become data-driven, relationships with distributors are built on shared facts, and discussions become more constructive because they are grounded in a common, objective baseline.

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A new professional advantage: The ability to act on the right deposits, at the right time

With simple indicators derived from sell-out data—sales velocity, volume growth, assortment health, and inter-deposit gaps—you regain control of your territory.

You gain:

– responsiveness: rapid detection of weak signals;

– efficiency: smarter prioritization of field visits;

– credibility: discussions grounded in shared data;

– performance: targeted actions where they generate the highest ROI.

This data-driven approach is not meant to replace your field knowledge.

It strengthens it.It sharpens it.It makes it more strategic.

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Want to identify high-potential or struggling deposits in just a few clicks?

KaryonFood centralizes and harmonizes all your sell-out data, turns it into key indicators, and provides dashboards designed specifically for regional teams.

You can immediately see where to act, why, and with which levers.

👉 Request a demo to discover how to manage your region with unprecedented precision.