Wholesale
Success Metrics & KPIs
Key performance indicators for evaluating wholesale and distribution software
Measuring the success of wholesale and distribution software requires a structured approach across multiple dimensions. This document organizes KPIs aligned with the SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) framework's five performance attributes — Reliability, Responsiveness, Cost, Assets, and Agility — plus digital commerce and platform-specific metrics.
Measures the ability to perform tasks as expected — accuracy, completeness, and consistency.
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| Perfect Order Rate | Orders delivered in-full, on-time, damage-free, with correct documentation | >90% |
| DIFOT / OTIF | Delivered In-Full, On-Time — the industry-standard fulfillment metric | >95% |
| Order Accuracy Rate | Orders with correct items, quantities, and pricing | 96–99% (digital) vs 85–92% (traditional) |
| Fill Rate | Percentage of ordered line items fulfilled from available stock | >97% |
| Pick Accuracy | Warehouse picking accuracy rate | >99.8% |
| Forecast Accuracy | Demand forecast accuracy (at SKU/location level) | >70% at SKU level |
Measures the speed at which tasks are performed — cycle times and lead times.
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| Order Cycle Time | Time from order placement to delivery | Track trend, varies by sector |
| Order Processing Time | Time from order entry to warehouse release | <2 hours (automated) |
| Warehouse Throughput Time | Time from pick release to shipment | Same-day for in-stock items |
| Quote-to-Order Cycle Time | Time from quote request to confirmed order | <24 hours |
| Returns Processing Time | Time from return request to credit/resolution | <5 business days |
Measures the cost of operating supply chain processes.
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| Cost per Order | Total cost to process one order (labor + system + fulfillment) | Digital orders 30–50% lower than traditional |
| Cost-to-Serve | Total cost of serving a customer (sales, logistics, support) | Segment by customer tier |
| Transportation Cost per Unit | Freight and delivery cost per unit shipped | Track trend |
| Warehouse Cost per Order Line | Cost to pick, pack, and ship one order line | Track trend |
| Total Supply Chain Cost as % of Revenue | End-to-end supply chain cost ratio | Wholesale avg: 5–10% |
Measures the effectiveness of asset utilization — inventory, facilities, and working capital.
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| Cash-to-Cash Cycle Time (CCC) | DIO + DSO − DPO — measures how fast inventory converts back to cash | Lower is better; wholesale avg: 30–45 days |
| Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) | Average days to collect receivables after a sale | <45 days |
| Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO) | Average days inventory is held before sale | Wholesale: 20–30 days |
| Days Payable Outstanding (DPO) | Average days to pay suppliers | Negotiate to extend |
| Inventory Turnover | Annual COGS / average inventory value | Wholesale: 12–18 turns/year |
| GMROI | Gross Margin Return on Inventory Investment — gross profit / avg inventory cost | >2.0 |
| Stockout Rate | Percentage of SKUs unavailable when ordered | <3% |
| Dead Stock / Obsolete Inventory | Percentage of inventory with no sales in 6–12 months | <5% |
| Warehouse Utilization | Warehouse space utilization rate | 85–90% |
Measures the ability to respond to external changes — market shifts, demand spikes, disruptions.
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| Upside Supply Chain Flexibility | Time to achieve 20% sustainable increase in delivered quantities | <30 days |
| Supplier Lead Time Variability | Standard deviation of supplier delivery lead times | Lower is better |
| Order Change Flexibility | Ability to modify orders after placement (cut-off windows) | Track capability |
| New Product Time-to-Catalog | Time to onboard a new SKU and make it orderable | <48 hours |
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| Digital Order Rate | Share of orders placed via digital channels (vs phone/fax/email) | >70%; industry trending to 80%+ |
| Active User Rate | Registered customers who actively order via platform | >60% |
| Self-service Rate | Customer actions completed without sales rep involvement | 83% of B2B buyers prefer self-service |
| Mobile Order Share | Percentage of digital orders placed via mobile app | Track upward trend |
| Reorder Rate | Percentage of orders that are repeat purchases | Critical for B2B; higher is better |
| Feature Adoption Rate | Usage of advanced features (bulk upload, saved lists, recipe builder, etc.) | Track per feature |
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| B2B Conversion Rate | Visitor-to-order conversion rate | Median: 2.9% across B2B |
| Quote-to-Order Rate | Percentage of quotes that convert to orders | >30% |
| Search Success Rate | Searches that lead to add-to-cart — critical for large catalogs (10K+ SKUs) | >40% |
| Cart Abandonment Rate | Percentage of carts not converted to orders | <20% (B2B typically lower than B2C) |
| Average Order Value (AOV) | Average revenue per order | Wholesale: $2,100–$8,900 depending on sector |
| Straight-through Processing Rate | Orders processed without human intervention | Leading platforms: 85% |
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| Customer Retention Rate | Annual customer retention | >90% |
| Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) | Total revenue from a customer over the relationship | CLV / CAC > 3:1 |
| Net Promoter Score (NPS) | Customer likelihood to recommend | >40 is excellent |
| Cross-sell / Up-sell Rate | Additional revenue from platform recommendations | >10% |
| Share of Wallet | Customer's spend via your platform vs total category spend | Leading companies: 70%+ within 18 months |
| Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) | Cost to acquire a new customer | Track trend; B2B avg CPL: $148 |
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| Gross Margin | Gross profit as percentage of revenue | Wholesale avg: ~20–25%; distributors avg ~4% net profit |
| Digital Revenue Growth Rate | Year-over-year growth of digital channel revenue | Wholesale: 18–25% annual growth |
| Sales Rep Productivity | Revenue per sales rep, or customers managed per rep | Should increase post-digitization |
| IT Cost as % of Revenue | Technology investment ratio | Wholesale: 1–3% |
| ROI / Payback Period | Return on software investment | SCOR DS users report 2–6x ROI in year 1 |
| Accounts Receivable Turnover | Revenue / average accounts receivable | Higher is better; indicates collection efficiency |
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|
| System Uptime | Platform availability | >99.9% |
| Page Load Time | Time to render pages | <2 seconds |
| API Response Time | ERP integration endpoint response time | <500ms |
| ERP Sync Success Rate | Success rate of price, stock, and order data synchronization | >99.9% |
| Error Rate | Application error rate during checkout, search, and ordering | <0.1% |
| Time to Deploy | Release cycle for new features and updates | Track cadence |
- Launch phase (0–6 months): Focus on Digital Adoption metrics — drive migration from offline to online channels
- Growth phase (6–18 months): Shift to Order Operations and Customer Metrics — optimize experience, accuracy, and retention
- Maturity phase (18+ months): Prioritize Financial Impact and Asset Management — pursue ROI, CCC optimization, and scale
- Leading indicators: Digital adoption rate, search success rate, forecast accuracy, feature adoption — predict future performance
- Lagging indicators: Revenue growth, gross margin, perfect order rate, customer retention — confirm past performance
- A balanced scorecard should track both to enable proactive decision-making
- Digital vs traditional: Compare the same metric across online and offline channels
- Time trends: Month-over-month, quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year
- Customer segmentation: Key accounts vs SMB, new vs existing customers
- Regional benchmarking: Performance across different markets, warehouses, and delivery zones
- Industry peer benchmarking: Compare against ASCM/SCOR peer data or industry quartiles