The KPIs every HORECA distributor should track (and how to improve them)

In a business like HORECA distribution, what isn't measured can't be improved. And what is measured badly can lead you to the wrong decisions.

What are KPIs?
They are Key Performance Indicators: metrics that let you understand how your business is evolving and make decisions on a real basis, not just intuition.

📊 1. Stock turnover

What it measures: how fast you sell your inventory.
Why it matters: the faster it turns over, the less capital is tied up and the lower the risk of expiry or deterioration. But be careful: if you overdo the discounts, you can end up losing more margin than you recover in liquidity.

Which matters more? It depends on the product and on your financial situation. Holding stuck products carries hidden costs: space, expiry risk, loss of value and the missed opportunity to sell other, faster-moving products. In most cases, sacrificing some margin is better than letting stock become unsellable.

How to improve it:

• Set up automatic alerts that warn you when a batch is getting stuck.
• Anticipate format changes and new pack presentations that could cause stock to stall, cutting back purchases so the changeover catches you with as little stock as possible in the warehouse.
• Launch direct promotions, or cross-promotions with other products, to clear stuck lines before it's too late.

💶 2. Gross margin per customer

What it measures: the real profit each customer leaves you, after deducting both the cost of the product and the cost of the service involved.
Why it matters: some high-volume customers actually leave you very little margin.

But be careful: there are also customers who leave hardly any direct margin but generate product turnover and reputation because they are benchmarks in their area. In these cases, you should analyse their strategic weight in the business rather than making decisions from the spreadsheet alone. If they help consolidate routes or attract other customers, they can be indirectly profitable.

How to improve it:

• Calculate margin per order, not just per product.
• Take into account discounts, urgent orders, surcharges and associated logistics costs.
• Redefine terms or delivery frequency if a customer isn't profitable… unless its strategic value justifies it.

🚚 3. Logistics cost per delivery and per route

What it measures: the real cost of serving an order and the overall performance of each route (set of deliveries).
Why it matters: an individual delivery may look profitable but be part of a loss-making route.

How to optimise cost per delivery:

• Group deliveries by area and day.
• Raise the minimum order when the margin doesn't cover the delivery.
• Plan routes with tools that minimise mileage and time.

How to optimise cost per route:

• Analyse each route as a unit: total cost, overall margin and order density.
• Identify routes that are systematically loss-making.
• Step up sales efforts in areas with unprofitable routes to win new customers or increase the average order value.
• Adjust frequencies or combine routes if there isn't enough volume.

📞 4. Customer satisfaction (automated and actionable)

What it measures: the customer's experience after each delivery, focusing on the key points of the service.
Why it matters: if you don't detect a bad experience in time, you can lose the customer without knowing why.

How to improve it:

• Automate a short survey after each delivery, with these 3 questions:
  1. How would you rate the handling of your order?
  2. How would you rate the delivery?
  3. Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?
• Feed the responses into your CRM for follow-up.
• Act within 24 hours whenever there is negative feedback.
• Make the most of positive feedback to build loyalty or strengthen relationships.

📆 5. Purchase frequency per customer

What it measures: changes in how regularly a customer places orders of a profitable size.
Why it matters: spotting whether a customer is ordering more or less often can help you anticipate churn or strengthen relationships before they cool off.

How to improve it:

• Define a "healthy" frequency range by customer type and average order value.
• Create alerts for when a customer deviates from their usual pattern.
• Get in touch proactively if a customer is buying less than expected (ideally with a special offer or improved terms to rekindle their interest), and reinforce the relationship if they are growing, rewarding loyalty with exclusive advantages or extra benefits.

⚠️ BONUS: Don't measure everything

More data isn't always better. What matters is measuring what enables you to make concrete decisions. If a KPI doesn't lead you to act, you're better off removing it from your reports.

💡 So what now?

Ask yourself these three questions:

1. Am I measuring what really matters?
2. Am I making decisions with that data?
3. Is my tracking automated, or do I depend on spreadsheets and luck?