Wholesale and distribution

A wholesaler or distributor sells to shops, supermarkets, hotels and institutions, mostly on account, in cartons, bales and crates. Orders come in at the order desk and from reps on the road; the warehouse picks them, trucks deliver them, the shop signs for them, and the invoice goes on its account. Distributors also answer to their principals: the manufacturers whose products they carry, their schemes and their claims.

How Kila works for a wholesaler

• The main screen is the order desk (Sell › Order desk), where the desk finds the customer, sees their credit and price list and types the lines by pack size. See Take an order at the order desk.
• Your day revolves around the order. It is taken, held if it is over the customer’s credit, picked and packed, loaded on a truck’s trip, delivered by line with the shop’s signature, invoiced on account and paid. Reps also sell straight from their vans on their beats.
• The words Kila uses: a sale is an order, a receipt is an invoice, and a branch is a depot.

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Kila treats these kinds of business as wholesale and distribution:

• General wholesaler
• FMCG distributor
• Beverage distributor
• Pharmaceutical or medical distributorPharmacy rules
• Construction-material distributor
• Agricultural-input distributorFarm chemicals rules
• Route distributor

A day at a distributor

1. Take the orders. The order desk takes orders by phone and WhatsApp, at each customer’s price list and pack sizes: Take an order at the order desk, Repeat a customer’s last order.
2. Clear the credit. An order over the customer’s credit left waits for the credit controller: Approve an order over the credit limit.
3. Pick and pack. The store picks each order with its pick list: Pick and pack an order.
4. Send out the trucks. The dispatcher plans each route’s trip, the store checks the load and the truck goes out: Send a route’s run out.
5. Deliver. The driver delivers each stop on their phone, with the shop’s GRN, and takes the money: Deliver an order with proof.
6. Settle the trucks. When the truck is back, the store counts in what came back and the cash office counts the driver’s money: Settle a driver’s trip.
7. On the road. Reps sell from their vans on their beats, and the area supervisor closes each van’s day: Sell from the van on your route, Close a van day.
8. Returns and empties. Shops hand back damaged goods, crates and bottles: Take back a market return, Take back crates and empties.
9. Watch the team and the principals. The sales manager sets beats and targets and runs the principals’ schemes; the claims officer claims back what the principals owe: Set reps’ beats and targets, Run a trade scheme, Claim from a principal.

Distribution › Distribution overview shows “How the business and each principal are doing: sales to outlets, coverage, schemes, claims and stock”: Sales to outlets, Numeric distribution, Coverage, Strike rate, Drop size, Fill rate, Returns, Owed by outlets, Stock, Scheme spend, Claims outstanding and Empties with outlets, then each principal against its monthly target.

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The home page’s cards

Kila arranges a wholesale owner’s home page with these cards. Each shows when its feature is on and your role may see it:

• Orders to pick, to deliver and delivered today
• Trucks today: out, back and settled; stops delivered
• The order desk’s calls today
• Sales on account, payments, overdue balances
• Money overdue, promises and holds
• Cheques to bank, in hand and bounced
• Customers over their credit limit
• Vans and reps on the road today
• Reps against target this month
• Beats today: coverage and strike rate
• Sales to outlets by principal this month
• Trade schemes and claims to principals
• Market returns to receive and credit
• Stock to reorder; purchase orders due
• Licences, permits and returns due
• Payments waiting for confirmation
• Approvals and reviews waiting

Who does what

Role	What Kila says it is for
Owner	Full access to the business, including billing.
General manager	Runs operations across every branch.
Sales manager	Runs the sales team: reps’ beats, targets and commissions, trade schemes, outlets from the road and credit over the limit within their own. No books or users.
Area supervisor	Supervises the reps in their depot: approves outlets from the road, reconciles van days, checks shelves and follows coverage. No prices or credit limits.
Order desk clerk	Takes customers’ orders at the order desk and builds quotations; takes in returns and empties at the depot. No refunds or discounts beyond the limit.
Dispatcher	Plans deliveries, routes and trucks’ trips, picks and loads runs and vans, issues gate passes, dispatches orders, and takes back returns and empties. No prices or credit.
Credit controller	Keeps customers within their credit: decides orders held over the limit, holds and lifts accounts, collects, keeps the cheque register, sends statements and credits market returns.
Sales rep	Visits the customers on their beat: takes orders, sells from the van, collects, checks shelves, takes back returns and empties, and adds new outlets for approval. No prices, credit limits or other reps’ routes.
Merchandiser	Visits outlets on their beat to check shelves and displays (must-sell lines, facings, prices, photos), records visits, expired stock and new outlets. No selling, prices or money.
Principals and claims officer	Keeps the principals’ records: secondary sales files, scheme, price-difference and expiry claims and their settlement; inspects returns and disposes of damaged goods.
Driver	Drives a truck’s trip: delivers each stop by line (short or refused with a reason), takes the money on delivery, brings back returns and empties, and hands in at settlement. No prices or credit limits.
Cash office	Runs the cash-and-carry counter and the cash office: settles drivers’ trips and vans’ cash, keeps the cheque register and banks. No prices, credit limits or stock.

A wholesaler has Kila’s standard roles too, such as the storekeeper, the inventory manager, the procurement officer, the accountant and the auditor. The owner gives each person their roles under Administration › Users and roles.

Tasks for wholesalers and distributors

• Take an order at the order desk and Repeat a customer’s last order
• Approve an order over the credit limit
• Pick and pack an order
• Send a route’s run out, Deliver an order with proof and Settle a driver’s trip
• Sell from the van on your route and Close a van day
• Set reps’ beats and targets
• Run a trade scheme and Claim from a principal
• Take back a market return and Take back crates and empties

Set up a wholesaler

Kila’s set-up list for a new wholesale business, in order. Kila ticks each step off from what you record:

1. Business details and KRA PIN
2. Depots, warehouse and tills
3. Products with pack sizes and price lists
4. Principals and their products
5. Outlets with channels, credit limits and price lists
6. Routes and drivers (if delivering)
7. Trucks and vans with their capacity, and product weights
8. Sales reps and their beats
9. Opening balances

How returns are credited, whether crates carry a deposit, how long principals have to settle claims and how far a driver’s cash may be out are set by the owner in Distribution › Distribution settings.

Reports that matter here

Besides Distribution › Distribution overview, these are under Money › Reports:

Report	What Kila says it shows
Customer debt ageing	What customers owe on account, by how long it has been due.
Cheque register	Cheques received in the period with their status (in hand, banked, cleared, bounced), and bounced cheques by customer.
Sales by product or service	What sells: quantity, revenue and cost for every product and service.
Low stock	Items at or below their reorder point, with a suggested order.
Expiring stock	Batches that expire soon or have expired, with their value.

Common questions

Who can let an order through over a customer’s credit limit? Someone whose credit approval limit covers the amount over: at Mombasa Road the credit controller, the sales manager and the general manager, each up to their own limit. See Approve an order over the credit limit.

What happens when a driver’s cash is short? Up to the difference the business accepts (KES 200 at Mombasa Road), the trip settles; beyond it, a manager decides. See Settle a driver’s trip.

Where do I see what the principals owe us? Claims outstanding on the Distribution overview, the Claimable column of Trade schemes, and Still due on Claims to principals. See Claim from a principal.

Try it in the demo

Mombasa Road Distributors, an FMCG distributor at Syokimau, runs as a wholesale business, with made-up data: an order desk and a warehouse, three reps selling from vans, delivery trucks, crates and empties, principals’ claims and credit control. Each link fills in the person’s email: add the demo password the Kila team gave you.

• Mombasa Road DistributorsWholesale and distributionSign in as Hassan Mohamed (owner) (opens in a new tab)