Channel Market Sizing
How large is the addressable market behind this channel, and who is in it?
Build a field census by customer segment, SKU relevance and volume to size the market and expose competitor presence.
B2B channel research that shows who really sells your product.
See the distributors, dealers and specifiers beyond your first tier, where you are losing share, and which partners will grow it.
Why field, not desk
Channel truth does not live in an invoice.
It lives in a sub-dealer's shelf, a retailer's stockroom, or a conversation with a distributor who will not say the same thing to your sales rep. Nextyn puts researchers in that room, so what you get is observed, not estimated.
15,000+On-ground field researchers
85Countries with field presence
50+Languages spoken in-house
50+Assignments executed
Point solutions
B2B channel point solutions.
Analysis and insights built from on-ground fieldwork, not desk research. Each can examine your own brand, competing brands or both, so the research informs the intervention that can move revenue capture, margin leakage or market share.
Map the channel
Channel Tier Mapping
Who sits between distributor and end customer and how do products and margins move?
Map distributor, sub-dealer and retailer tiers to reveal product flows, margin build-up and competitor routes to market.
Coverage & Conflict Mapping
Where is our coverage weak, overlapping or losing ground to competitors?
Map outlet density and territories to identify white space, partner conflict and competitor strongholds in one view.
Understand channel choice
Share-of-Wallet Mapping
How much of each customer’s category spend is ours—and how much goes to competitors?
Interview channel customers to measure brand-wise stocking and sales share, switching triggers and loyalty drivers.
Partner Preference & Switching
Why do channel customers prioritize our brand or switch to a competitor?
Use anonymized interviews to isolate the margin, service, credit and availability factors shaping brand preference.
Influencer & Specifier Mapping
Beyond the distributor, who influences or specifies the final brand choice?
Identify contractors, architects, engineers and other non-buying influencers to map where brand pull is created or lost.
Improve channel performance
Partner Growth Readiness
Which channel partners have the capability and motivation to grow the business?
Score infrastructure, team capacity, financial resilience and territory reach to target investment and corrective action.
Trade Incentive Effectiveness
Are trade incentives changing behavior, or simply being absorbed as margin?
Track stocking before and after incentive periods to separate incremental behavior from leakage or competitor response.
Price & Discount Compliance
Where does the intended price break down across markets and channel tiers?
Mystery-shop own and competing brands to detect discount stacking, undercutting and parallel-channel price leakage.
Coverage
Ten categories our field teams already cover.
Any category sold through multi-tier distribution, where the brand owner's own data stops at the first invoice. Our field network is already active across all ten, mapping the micromarket behind each channel.
Chemicals & Specialty Materials
Industrial & specialty chemicals, coatings, adhesives
Automotive Parts Distribution
PV, HCV, LCV, two-wheelers, fleets
Construction & Mining Equipment
CE machinery and components
Off-Highway & Agriculture
Tractors, excavators, loaders, implements
Material Handling
Forklifts, warehouse equipment, batteries
Industrial Machinery
Pumps, compressors, motors, bearings
Power Tools & Accessories
Professional and consumer segments
General MRO Consumables
Lubricants, adhesives, safety, welding
HVAC & Refrigeration
Compressors, controls, spares, service
Electrical Equipment
Switchgear, transformers, cables
Three illustrative examples
Three examples of what channel research sets in motion.
The work starts with a part of the channel the business cannot see and ends with evidence for a specific commercial intervention.
01
Build the hidden customer universe
The question
Where are the dealers, retailers and end customers below the first tier?
Field evidence
Outlet census, distributor referrals and tier-by-tier validation.
Intervention informed
Prioritize white-space territories and partner recruitment.
02
Diagnose share-of-wallet loss
The question
Why is a channel customer giving more business to a competing brand?
Field evidence
Anonymized interviews, shelf audits and SKU-level brand-share checks.
Intervention informed
Address the margin, service or availability issue driving the loss.
03
Test a trade incentive
The question
Did the incentive change stocking and sell-out behavior?
Field evidence
Before-and-after tracking across participating and comparison outlets.
Intervention informed
Retain, redesign or stop the incentive based on incremental impact.
Case Studies
B2B Channel Research
B2B Channel Research
at work.
Deciding whether Vietnam was a go or no-go market
20+ field interviews with distributors, depot operators and industry veterans across North, Central and South Vietnam mapped the real distribution network, consumer loyalty and gray-market activity behind a “go / no-go” market-entry call.
Read the case studyFinding where list price and street price quietly diverge
40+ interviews with importers, distributors and installers, paired with SKU-level price audits, exposed the gap between list price and what buyers actually paid, and who was driving the upsell.
Read the case studyMapping three different routes to the shelf
Interviews with manufacturers, distributors and retailers, checked against store visits and exit interviews, mapped how over-the-counter products reach shoppers in three markets that share no channel structure.
Read the case study
Perspectives
Perspectives and insights.
ArticleIndustrial distribution trends: why the channel is consolidatingPrivate equity roll-ups and scale economics are consolidating industrial distribution. What smaller regional players need to survive it, in plain terms.Read more
ArticleReshoring manufacturing: what’s actually driving itReshoring is real for some industries and cosmetic for others. What the landed-cost math, automation, and China+1 diversification actually show.Read more
ArticleThe automotive aftermarket industry: where the margin sitsThe automotive aftermarket splits margin unevenly across OEM, branded aftermarket and gray-market parts. What actually separates the three, and why the pool keeps growing.Read more
ArticlePredictive maintenance in manufacturing: past the pilotPredictive maintenance cuts downtime and extends asset life, but most programs stall between the sensor install and a team that acts on the data.Read more
Start here
Tell us the decision you are facing.
Whether you have a project in mind, want to learn more about the practice, or are working a story, the right person gets back to you.
Discuss a project
Already have a decision in mind? Describe the project and the market it touches, and a research lead sets up an initial call to scope the evidence plan.
Start with a briefMedia inquiries
Working on a channel or distribution story? We partner with journalists on data, expert commentary and named quotes drawn from our research base.
Contact the press deskPartnership inquiries
Running a conference, event or industry association? We partner as a knowledge partner, contributing research, speakers and data to your agenda.
Propose a partnership
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Primary research into the part of a distribution chain a brand owner cannot see from its own data: the sub-dealers, retailers and end customers sitting below the first invoice, what they stock, why they choose one brand over another, and how much volume actually moves.
Because internal data stops at the first invoice. It shows what was sold into the channel, not what was sold through it, what else the partner carries, or what the shelf looks like two tiers down. Only fieldwork reaches that.
Ten: chemicals and specialty materials, automotive parts distribution, construction and mining equipment, off-highway and agriculture, material handling, industrial machinery, power tools and accessories, general MRO consumables, HVAC and refrigeration, and electrical equipment. The common factor is multi-tier distribution.
Yes, and most studies do both. Every point solution can examine your brand, named competitors or both together, which is what makes share-of-wallet and coverage findings meaningful rather than self-referential.
By census. Researchers work outward from known distributors through referral and territory sweeps, validating each tier against the one above and below it, until the outlet universe stops growing. It is slow, and it is the only method that produces a real denominator.
They speak candidly to an independent researcher in a way they do not to a sales representative who sets their terms. Interviews are run anonymously for exactly that reason, which is why the preference and switching findings hold up.
Yes. Stocking and sell-out behavior is tracked before, during and after the incentive period across both participating and comparison outlets. That separates real behavior change from margin that was simply absorbed.
A field design usually comes back within 48 hours of the brief. Fieldwork typically begins within one to two weeks, depending on geography, the number of tiers and the size of the outlet universe.
Per project, scoped against outlet sample, number of markets, method and language coverage. The scope and the cost are agreed before any fieldwork begins.
Researchers are briefed on scope before they go out, respondents are told who the work is for at the level agreed, no material non-public information about a listed company is sought, and every engagement is screened and documented before work begins.