Distributor margin research that sets trade terms you can defend.

Distributor margin research benchmarks what distributors, wholesalers and retailers keep between the price they pay and the price they charge, plus the trade terms and ranging conditions that come with it. Distributor margin is that gap between the price paid and the price charged. Brands use the benchmark to check their terms against the market before they negotiate. Nextyn builds each benchmark from interviews with manufacturers, distributors and retailers, checked against store visits, and has mapped routes to the shelf in Canada, Brazil and Mexico.

A Nextyn distributor margin study delivers three outputs: a channel map with reach by route, margin and terms benchmarks for every tier, and the ranging norms and listing conditions for each channel. Each output comes from interviews across the chain, checked against store visits, not from published price lists:

• Channel map: how product reaches shoppers, and what share each route carries
• Margin and terms benchmarks: the range each tier keeps, with payment, rebate and promotion terms
• Ranging norms: what buyers in each channel require before they list a product

Nextyn interviews the four groups that set and see trade margins: manufacturers, importers and distributors, wholesalers, and retail buyers and store owners. Each study draws its sample from every tier between the factory and the shelf, matched to the channels and markets in scope:

• Manufacturers and brand owners who negotiate terms with the trade
• Importers and distributors who carry the category
• Wholesalers and cash-and-carry operators serving smaller stores
• Retail buyers and store owners, checked against store visits and exit interviews

Nextyn runs distributor margin research in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, among other markets, and the retail and CPG practice has researched categories in 85+ countries. Markets are agreed at scoping and follow the route to market, so each country's own channel structure is mapped rather than assumed. Recent Nextyn work mapped how over-the-counter products reach shoppers in Canada, Brazil and Mexico, three markets that share no channel structure.

Nextyn recommends distributor margin research before entering a new market, appointing or replacing a distributor, or renegotiating trade terms with a major retailer. At those points the benchmark sets the opening offer, so the brand neither overpays for distribution nor loses a listing over terms the trade considers below the norm. Nextyn sends a research plan within 48 hours of the brief, ahead of the negotiation window.

A Nextyn distributor margin research project runs in four steps, from brief to read-out, and nothing is commissioned until the client approves the plan. The client sees the sample, method and price before any fieldwork, and reads every interview with the Nextyn team at the end.

1. Submit the brief: the category, the markets and the channels or terms under review.
2. Receive a plan within 48 hours: who Nextyn will interview, how, and what the work costs.
3. Approve the plan: fieldwork starts only after sign-off.
4. Review the read-out: every interview read together, showing where manufacturers, distributors and retailers agree, where they conflict and what is still open.

Nextyn sends a distributor margin research plan within 48 hours of receiving the brief, stating who will be interviewed, how, and what the work costs. The plan sets the fieldwork length for the markets, channels and tiers in scope, so a single-channel benchmark and a three-country route-to-market map each get their own timeline. Nothing is commissioned until the client approves the plan.

Nextyn's distributor margin research benchmarks what every tier in a category really keeps, while a brand's own distributor reports only its own terms and has a stake in the answer. The distributor's view is one data point, and the benchmark shows the whole range the market accepts.