Glossary
Glossary for outlet and delivery data
This glossary defines the terms field sales reps and eCommerce managers use to measure outlets, menus and delivery apps. Start with the question you need to answer, then use the definition, formula and worked example to keep every market working from the same measure.
20M+
venues tracked
100+
data points per outlet
The trusted intelligence layer for teams selling to Hospitality & Retail
Which terms define outlets and territories?
- Outlet universe: the complete, deduplicated list of every point of sale in a territory where your product could be sold.
- On-trade vs off-trade: on-trade is bought to consume on the premises, off-trade is bought to take away. The US says on-premise and off-premise.
- White space analysis: finding the outlets or areas that fit your brand but do not stock it yet.
- Key account: a key account is a customer, usually a group of outlets, that gets its own manager, its own plan and its own terms because of its size, influence or strategic value.
- Sales territory: a sales territory is the set of customers and prospects, usually defined by geography, that one rep or team is responsible for, together with the targets and visit plan that go with it.
- Independent vs chain outlets: an independent outlet is a bar, restaurant, cafe or hotel run as a single site or a very small group, where the owner or manager decides the range on site, while a chain outlet is one of many locations trading under the same name, where the range is usually decided centrally.
- Franchisee: a franchisee is a business or person that owns and runs one outlet or several under another company's brand, menu and operating system, paying fees to the franchisor in return.
- Free house vs tied and managed pubs: a free house is a pub whose operator has no supply tie to a brewer or pub company, so it can buy its beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks from any supplier it chooses.
- HoReCa: HoReCa (also Horeca or HORECA) is the food service sector made up of hotels, restaurants and cafes, and by extension bars, pubs and other places where food and drink are prepared and consumed away from home.
- Foodservice operator: a foodservice operator is a business that prepares and serves food or drink to people away from home and runs the outlets where that happens, such as a restaurant owner, a pub company, a hotel group, a contract caterer running canteens or a franchisee.
- Outlet segmentation: outlet segmentation is the grouping of the outlets in a market into segments that share the attributes that matter to your sales model, such as channel, venue type, price level, size, ownership or what is on the menu, so each segment gets its own range, service level and sales approach.
- Channel mapping: channel mapping is the assignment of each outlet in a market to one channel from a fixed list, such as restaurant, bar or pub, cafe, hotel or quick service, so that outlets from different sources and countries can be counted, compared and targeted on the same basis.
- Lead score: a lead score is a number given to a prospective customer that estimates how likely it is to buy, or how closely it fits the customers you already win, so a sales team can decide who to contact first.
How do menu and distribution metrics differ?
- Menu penetration: the share of outlets whose menu lists an item, category or brand.
- Numeric vs weighted distribution: the share of outlets that stock your product, counted equally or weighted by category sales, on-premise and on delivery apps.
- Digital shelf share: how visible your brand is on the delivery app shelf compared with competitors.
- Share of menu: share of menu is the share of all the items listed in a category, across a defined set of menus, that belong to one brand, product or type.
- POS material: POS (point of sale) material is the branded items a brand places in an outlet to be seen at the moment of choice, such as signage, menus and table tents, tap handles and fonts, glassware, parasols, bar runners and branded furniture.
- Cooler purity: cooler purity is the share of the products in a brand-owned or brand-placed cooler that belong to the brand that placed it, as agreed in the placement terms.
Which metrics describe delivery apps?
- Delivery storefront: a delivery storefront is one outlet's listing on one delivery app: its page with name, menu, prices, images, opening hours, ratings and fees.
- Dark store: a dark store is a retail site closed to walk-in shoppers that stocks groceries and everyday goods only to fill online orders, usually for quick commerce apps that promise delivery in minutes.
- Out-of-stock rate on delivery apps: on delivery apps, out-of-stock rate is the share of checks in which a product that a storefront lists cannot be ordered, and availability rate is the rest (100% minus the out-of-stock rate).
- First-party ordering channel: a first-party ordering channel is an ordering app or website that a restaurant, chain or brand owns and runs itself, as opposed to a third-party delivery app that lists many restaurants side by side.
- Combo attach rate: combo attach rate is the share of combos, meal deals and bundles in a defined set of delivery menus that include a given product, brand or category.
- Menu price index: a menu price index compares what a set of outlets charges for an item or a basket with a reference price that is set to 100, so 112 means 12% more expensive than the reference.
- GMV on delivery apps: gross merchandise value (GMV) on a delivery app is the total value of the orders placed through it over a period, at the prices customers pay, before the app's commission and usually before refunds.
- Digital shelf: the digital shelf is every place a shopper can see and choose a product online: delivery app menus, quick commerce and grocery assortments, in-app search results, product pages and meal deals.
Which terms shape a field sales week?
- Call frequency in sales: call frequency is how often a sales rep visits, or otherwise contacts, a given account in a set period, such as every week, every two weeks or once a month, and it is usually set per account tier.
- Drop size: drop size is the amount of product delivered to one customer in one delivery, measured in cases, units, kilos, litres or invoice value depending on the business.
- Strike rate in sales: in field sales, strike rate is the share of sales calls or visits that end in an order or a win, so 30 orders from 100 calls is a strike rate of 30%.
- Cost to serve: cost to serve is the full cost of supplying and supporting one outlet or account over a period, including sales visits, delivery drops, trade investment such as equipment and discounts, and admin.
- Outlet tiering: outlet tiering is the sorting of outlets into a few bands, usually A, B and C, by how much they are worth or could be worth to a brand, with a service rule attached to each band: how often it is visited, how much is invested and who owns it.
- Route to market (RTM): route to market (RTM) is the way a product gets from the manufacturer to the outlets and consumers that buy it: which channels it is sold through, who sells to each outlet, who delivers, and who holds the customer relationship.
- Perfect store: perfect store is a set of standards that describes what a brand's ideal execution looks like in an outlet, such as range, visibility, cooler, POS material, price and promotion, together with a score that measures each outlet against them.
- Trade marketing: trade marketing is the marketing a brand aims at the trade, meaning distributors, wholesalers, retailers and on-trade outlets, rather than at consumers, to win listings, visibility and execution where the product is sold.
- On-trade activation: an on-trade activation is a time-bound brand programme run inside bars, pubs, restaurants or hotels, such as a menu feature, a sampling night, a branded event or a serve promotion, designed to get guests to try or order a product at the venue.
What does each metric answer? Pick the denominator first
| Question | Metric | Denominator |
|---|---|---|
| How many outlets could I sell to? | Outlet universe | Outlets in the territory that pass your fit criteria |
| Which outlets fit my brand but do not stock it yet? | White space analysis | Fitting outlets in the universe |
| Is this an on-premise or a take-away sale? | On-trade vs off-trade | Not a ratio: a split of the universe |
| How many menus list my category or brand? | Menu penetration | Outlets with a recent menu read |
| In how many outlets is my product listed? | Numeric vs weighted distribution | Outlets that sell the category (counted equally, or weighted by category sales) |
| How visible is my brand on the delivery app shelf? | Digital shelf share | Category listings on the chosen apps and storefronts |
How should you read these definitions?
Every formula states its denominator, because most disagreements about a number are disagreements about what it was divided by. Examples use generic brands and cities and round numbers so the arithmetic is easy to follow; they are not market data. When we publish real figures elsewhere on this site, they carry a date and a definition.
Dashmote counts 20M+ venues across 60+ countries, such as restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs, quick service and hotels. How to define your own universe is on outlet universe.
Frequently asked questions
Who is this glossary for?
Field sales reps and managers selling into bars, restaurants and cafes, and eCommerce managers at food and beverage brands who manage their presence on delivery apps.
Are the numbers in the examples real?
No. Worked examples use generic brands, cities and round numbers to show the arithmetic. Real figures on this site are dated and sourced.
Can I suggest a term?
Yes. Tell us through the contact page which term your team argues about most and we will consider it for the next entry.