Notable Work Done
Driven impactful transformations across diverse business environments—from pharma-to-FMCG transitions and e-commerce scale-ups to trade spend optimisation and field force efficiency. Our interventions have enabled business turnarounds, rural expansion, and urban retail optimisation through data-led insights. By introducing gamification for product launches, cold-chain distribution audits, and DMS automation, LBC helps organisations modernise operations, boost profitability, and build agile, performance-driven sales ecosystems
Case Study
Disrupting Rural Distribution Through Potential-Based Expansion
Company
A large Indian MNC
Sector
FMCG - multicategory
Project
Beyond population clusters — building smarter, profitable rural reach.
A large Indian MNC with a very high numeric reach and wholesale presence wanted to dramatically further expand into rural and widen its presence.
COMPANY CHALLENGES
For two leading FMCG companies with diverse portfolios, rural expansion was identified as a strategic growth bet. Despite strong brand equity, rural distribution relied on conventional population-based clustering models that created coverage overlaps, high costs, and limited visibility of true market potential. Rural expansion is inherently capital- and manpower-intensive, posing challenges around network optimization, cost-to-serve, and effective measurement of coverage productivity. The mandate was to rapidly expand rural footprint while improving ROI, quality of coverage, and sales velocity.
OUR APPROACH
As Business Vertical Head and later Head of Sales, I led a disruptive shift from population-led to potential-based rural expansion, leveraging data, geography, and digital mapping.
- Spatially mapped existing networks and identified white spaces using village-level potential estimation, supported by
- Used proximity to highways, mandis, and economic corridors to build rational, route-efficient coverage models.
- Ramped up field force with optimized ensuring control without linear headcount growth.
- Ran the super stockist network as a standalone business vertical, enhancing accountability and focus.
- Digitized the rural network for enhanced reach, control, and performance monitoring.