Verity for distributors
A distributor wins on stock being in the right godown and the right retailer paying on schedule. Verity holds the stock, the orders, the credit exposure and the field team on one record.
Runs alongside your existing accounting. Nothing switches off on day one.
Verity / Distribution
LiveOrders today
212
Credit outstanding
₹1.84 Cr
Lines out of stock
19
Returns pending
34
Needs attention
Illustrative figures. Verity shows your own distribution in this shape.
How the business runs
A distributor buys stock from principals, holds it across godowns, sells it to a large number of small retailers, delivers it, and waits to be paid. The margin is thin and the volume is high, which means the business is decided by two things: whether the right stock was in the right place when a retailer ordered it, and whether the money came back before the next purchase had to be funded.
Both of those are information problems. Stock spread across four godowns is only useful if you know what is where; a fast-moving line sitting in the wrong warehouse is an out-of-stock at the counter. Credit is only safe if the exposure per retailer is current at the moment an order is taken, not at month end when the ledger is reviewed.
Then there is the field. Salespeople work beats, take orders at outlets, and are the only people who know why a retailer stopped ordering. That knowledge is almost never captured, so a slow decline in an outlet looks identical to a good month until someone notices the annual number.
Verity holds the stock across locations, the retailer orders, the credit position, the field activity, the dispatch and the returns as connected records. The order taken at a counter can be checked against the stock that exists and the credit the retailer has, at the point it is taken rather than at the point it fails.
What Verity calls these things
What gets in the way
Distribution problems are small individually and large in aggregate, which is exactly why they go unaddressed.
Stock exists, but not where the order is
The company holds the SKU. It is in the wrong godown, so the order goes unfulfilled and the retailer buys from a competitor that week.
In Verity Stock is held by location with availability visible across all of them, so a shortfall in one godown is answerable from another before the order is lost.
Credit exposure is known at month end
Orders are accepted from retailers who are already past their limit, and it is discovered when the ledger is reviewed weeks later.
In Verity Outstanding balance and ageing sit on the retailer record, so an order from a retailer past their limit is held at the point it is taken.
Out-of-stock is never counted
An order line that could not be supplied simply disappears. The lost sale leaves no trace and never appears in any report.
In Verity Unfulfillable lines are recorded against the order, so the cost of stocking decisions is visible rather than invisible.
Field activity is invisible
Whether a beat was covered, which outlets were visited and which ordered is known only to the salesperson.
In Verity Beat coverage and outlet visits are recorded work, so a route going uncovered for two days is something the business sees.
Returns and expiry are handled informally
Damaged goods, near-expiry stock and retailer returns accumulate in a corner of the godown and are settled in a rush at quarter end.
In Verity Returns are recorded movements against the retailer and the batch, with credit notes as workflow rather than negotiation.
Principal claims are lost
Scheme discounts, damage claims and promotional support owed by principals are reconstructed from memory and partially claimed.
In Verity Schemes and claims are recorded against the principal and the transactions they apply to, so what is owed is a number rather than an estimate.
The complete system
One system across stock, orders, credit and the field. These are the parts a distribution business uses.
Inventory
SKUs held with batch, expiry, cost, location and state, with availability visible across all warehouses at once.
Why it matters here Multi-location stock is the distributor’s core asset and its most common failure. Knowing the total is useless; knowing where it is is the whole job.
In practice A fast-moving line is out in Godown 1 and sitting in Godown 3. That is a transfer, not a lost order — provided someone can see it.
Orders
Orders are records with their lines, the retailer, the credit position at the time of order, the fulfilment state and what could not be supplied.
Why it matters here The order is where stock, credit and the customer relationship meet. Recording the lines that could not be filled is what makes stocking decisions measurable.
In practice Two hundred and twelve orders today, nineteen lines unfulfillable. Those nineteen are the number that should drive next week’s purchase.
Relationships
Each outlet is a record with its order history, credit limit, outstanding balance, ageing, returns and visit history.
Why it matters here A distributor’s customer base is wide and shallow. Decline in an individual outlet is invisible without a record, and it is where growth quietly leaks.
In practice An outlet that ordered every week until August and twice since is a list entry rather than something nobody happened to notice.
Suppliers
Principals are relationships with their purchase orders, schemes, claims, delivery performance and outstanding balances.
Why it matters here The supply side of a distribution business carries most of its working capital and most of its unclaimed money.
In practice Scheme support owed by a principal is recorded against the transactions it applies to, so the claim is assembled from records.
Logistics
Dispatch is tracked against the orders it fulfils, with vehicles, routes, delivery confirmation and returns on the record.
Why it matters here Delivery is where a distributor’s promise is either kept or quietly broken, and where undocumented returns begin.
In practice A van loaded against fourteen orders returns with three partial deliveries and two returns, all reconciled against the same records.
Records
Documents attach to the principal, retailer or transaction they belong to, with version history and the same permissions as everything else.
Why it matters here Distribution runs on documents that decide money — the scheme circular, the credit agreement, the damage claim — and they are the ones most often produced late or not at all.
In practice A principal disputes a claim. The scheme circular it was raised against and the transactions it covers are on the same records.
Communication
Notes, notifications and activity attach to the outlet, order or delivery they concern.
Why it matters here Why a retailer stopped ordering is known to one salesperson and to nobody else, which is exactly the fact the business most needs.
In practice The note that an outlet switched to a competitor on one category sits on that outlet, where the field manager will see it.
Workflows
Credit limits, discount schemes, returns and credit notes move through defined approval steps with a recorded decision.
Why it matters here Every commercially dangerous decision in distribution is a small one taken quickly — an extra week of credit, a discount to hold an account.
In practice An order from a retailer past their limit is held for approval rather than accepted and regretted.
People
Field and warehouse teams are modelled once, and every order, visit and delivery shows who owns it.
Why it matters here The field team is the only part of the business that meets the customer, and its activity is the least recorded.
In practice Outlets visited, orders taken and conversion by salesperson, from the records they create as they work.
Workforce
Assignment, attendance and availability stay connected to the routes and outlets they cover.
Why it matters here An uncovered beat costs a week of orders from every outlet on it, and it is usually noticed only in the monthly number.
In practice Beat 4 uncovered for two consecutive days is an exception on the day, not a discovery at month end.
Locations
Locations roll into regions and into the business, with permissions, stock and reporting following the same structure.
Why it matters here A distributor without location structure cannot answer the only question that matters about stock: where is it.
In practice Stock, orders and out-of-stock lines by godown, with transfers between them as recorded movement.
Reports and analytics
Stock coverage, fill rate, credit ageing, outlet activity, return rates and principal claims come from the operational records themselves.
Why it matters here The distributor’s critical numbers change daily. Monthly reporting is not slow, it is useless.
In practice Fill rate by SKU and by godown, current, rather than compiled at the end of the month.
Verity AI
Verity AI answers from your own stock, order, credit and field records, respects permissions, and can create assigned follow-ups.
Why it matters here The questions that matter here cross stock, credit and field activity at once, which is exactly why they normally go unanswered.
In practice "Which retailers are past their credit limit with open orders?" returns eleven, and one instruction assigns collection follow-ups to the salespeople who cover them.
Control
One permission model and one audit trail across every record.
Why it matters here Credit and discount decisions are the ones worth controlling, and they are made at the edges of the business by people under pressure.
In practice A salesperson can take an order; extending credit beyond limit requires an approval that leaves a record.
Work in motion
These already happen daily. In Verity each step is a state change, so the failure points are visible where they occur.
Both checks happen at the counter rather than at month end, which is the difference between a decision and a discovery.
Returns are recorded at the point of delivery rather than reconstructed when the van gets back.
The transfer is what turns an out-of-stock into a delayed delivery rather than a lost order.
Recording scheme terms at purchase is what makes the claim assemblable later.
Collection becomes a worked list rather than a monthly reconciliation exercise.
Near-expiry stock is visible while it can still be moved rather than after it cannot.
Verity AI
Verity AI reads the same stock, order, retailer and field records the business runs on. It answers from your own data, only shows what the person asking can see, and can turn an answer into follow-ups assigned to the right salespeople.
Verity / Ask
Verity AI only returns what the person asking has permission to see.
Without chasing
These run from the stock, order and retailer records at the moment the condition occurs.
When
An order is taken from a retailer past their credit limit
When
An order line cannot be fulfilled from the serving godown
When
Stock coverage falls below the threshold for a SKU
When
A retailer’s balance passes its payment terms
When
A beat goes uncovered
When
Stock approaches its expiry window
What you can understand
Stock, credit, field and commercial performance drawn from the day’s transactions.
Every one of these comes from the transactions the business already records as orders are taken, picked, delivered and paid.
One system, different ways of seeing it
Everyone works from the same records, and each role opens on the question they need answered.
Owner
Where is the working capital sitting?
Credit outstanding and ageing, stock value and coverage, fill rate, margin by principal.
Sales manager
What is the field actually doing?
Beat coverage, orders per visit, outlets gone quiet, salesperson performance by territory.
Warehouse manager
What has to move today?
Orders to pick, transfers due, near-expiry stock, returns awaiting processing.
Credit control
Who is over and who is late?
Exposure against limits, ageing bands, orders held on approval, collection follow-ups.
Purchasing
What has to be bought and what is owed to us?
Coverage by SKU, open purchase orders, principal delivery performance, scheme claims outstanding.
Where it is used
Availability by location across every warehouse, so a shortfall in one place is answered from another instead of becoming a lost order.
Stock availability and credit exposure checked at the moment an order is taken rather than discovered at month end.
Order lines that could not be supplied recorded against the order, so the cost of stocking decisions is visible.
Order history, credit limit, ageing, returns and visit history on each outlet record, so decline is visible early.
Routes, visits and orders taken as recorded work, so an uncovered beat is an exception on the day.
Ageing by retailer with collection follow-ups assigned to the salesperson who covers them.
Returns as recorded movements with reasons, credit notes as approvals, and near-expiry stock visible while it can still move.
Scheme terms recorded against the purchases they apply to, so claims are assembled from records rather than from memory.
Plain-language questions spanning all three at once, with follow-ups created and assigned in the same step.
Getting there
Your accounting software and whatever order-taking arrangement the field currently uses are mapped during implementation. Stock, outlets, credit positions and open orders are brought across, and Verity is introduced as the operational layer over them while the business continues to trade.
Implementation runs about four weeks: discovery and mapping, configuration, migration, then an ongoing operations partnership.
Questions
Verity AI answers questions from your own stock, order, retailer and field records. You can ask which retailers are past their credit limit with open orders, which SKUs could not be fulfilled this week, which outlets have stopped ordering, or what stock is near expiry and where — and turn the answer into follow-ups assigned to the salespeople who cover those accounts.
Yes. Stock is held by location with batch and expiry, and availability is visible across every warehouse at once, so a shortfall in one godown can be answered by a transfer from another rather than becoming an unfulfilled order.
The retailer record carries the credit limit, outstanding balance and ageing, so an order that would take an account past its limit is held at the approval step at the point it is taken rather than discovered when the ledger is reviewed.
Yes. Order lines that could not be fulfilled are recorded against the order rather than disappearing, so the volume and value of unmet demand becomes a number that can inform purchasing.
Beats, outlet visits and orders taken are recorded work with owners, so coverage gaps and per-visit conversion are visible. It records what the field does as part of the ordering process rather than as separate reporting.
Returns are recorded movements against the retailer and the batch, with reasons and credit notes as approval steps. Near-expiry stock is visible by location and value while there is still time to move it.
No. Verity is the operational layer over what you already run. Your accounting arrangements continue; Verity holds the stock, orders, credit positions, field activity and the reporting across them.
Yes. A single-godown distributor still faces the credit, out-of-stock and outlet-decline problems, which is most of the value. Additional locations use the same structure without further setup.
About four weeks: discovery and mapping of how the business actually runs, configuration, migration of stock, outlets and open balances, then an ongoing operations partnership.
Those two decide most of a distributor’s year. Tell us which one is costing you more and we will show you what it looks like in Verity.