Distribution: strategies, channels, partners, rules and results
Plan how your products reach the customer: strategies, sales channels, partners and influencers, commercial rules, action plan and results.
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In Marketing → Distribution you organize how your products and services reach the customer: what you sell, to whom, where and through which paths; who sells with you (resellers, affiliates, referrers and influencers); what was agreed with each one; the tasks to get everything up and running; and the numbers for each channel and partner.
In this first version, everything is recorded by hand: no number comes from an integration, and each indicator shows "Source: manual entry" with the date of the last update.
To get started, follow the first strategy step-by-step guide.
The Distribution sections
| Section | What it has |
|---|---|
| Overview | the period, strategy, product, channel and partner filters; the active strategies and channels, active partners and partners in negotiation; To review (conflicting rules); the period's indicators; pending actions and agreements expiring in 30 days. With nothing set up, it shows the step-by-step guide |
| Strategies | the list with search, status filter and Archived; the guided form and each strategy's details |
| Channels | sales and distribution channels, grouped into Owned, Platforms and marketplaces, Resale, Affiliates and referral and Promotion |
| Partners | the List and the Funnel (one column per stage), with the Influencers filter |
| Rules | the commercial rules, each with a text summary, who it applies to and the validity |
| Action plan | tasks by status, with priority, due date, checklist, budget and cost |
| Results | Record, the indicators with the basis of each one and the comparison by channel and by partner |
On the Marketing Strategy screen, the Distribution tab shows the month summary and the Open Distribution button.
Strategies
A strategy answers 4 questions: What do you sell? (catalog products or a description, like "1-hour consulting"), Who do you want to reach? (personas or a description), Where do you want to operate? (states, cities, all of Brazil or online) and How do you plan to sell? (Direct, Indirect or Hybrid, and how the customer receives it).
Only the name is required to Save as draft. To activate, the strategy needs a product (from the catalog or described), an objective, a way to sell and at least one channel; if anything is missing, the screen shows the list of what is missing.
The details show the linked channels, partners, rules, actions and results, and the history. Duplicate, Pause and Archive ask for confirmation; archiving does not delete, it only removes it from the list (the Archived filter shows it again).
Channels
A channel is where the customer buys from or learns about you: website, app, physical store, WhatsApp, marketplace, reseller, sales representative, distributor, affiliates, referral, social media, influencers or community. Each channel has one or more roles: Promotes, Generates opportunities, Sells and Delivers.
More options has the link, the connected account, where interested people go, the products, the regions, the fixed monthly cost and the variable cost, the capacity, the delivery time, the agreed terms and the goals.
Don't confuse it with Marketing → Channels and profiles, which shows the connected accounts (Instagram, WhatsApp…). A Distribution channel can point to one of these accounts.
Partners and influencers
A partner is someone who sells or promotes with you: Referrer, Affiliate, Reseller, Distributor, Strategic partner, Delivery or Influencer. In the Funnel, each partner is at a stage (Prospected, Negotiating, Contracted, Preparing, Active, Ended) and moves through the Move to… menu.
The commercial terms (compensation and exclusivity) are separate from the funnel stage: they are in draft, awaiting approval or approved. When you change the compensation or the exclusivity, they go back for approval.
For an influencer, add the Instagram, TikTok and YouTube profiles (the @, the link, the followers and the engagement you checked, with the date), the niche and the Rate card per deliverable (post, Reels, story, video, short video, live). The partner record keeps the contacts, the Contracts and materials (image or PDF up to 10 MB, or a link), the activities and the history.
Commercial rules
A rule puts in writing what was agreed. The categories are: products and territory, exclusivity, price and discount, commission, who owns the sale, channel conflict, payment, service level, brand use, exception approval and other.
Each rule applies to everyone (General) or to a strategy, a channel or a partner. A specific rule only replaces the general rule of the same category when that option is checked; without it, both applying together show as Conflict in To review. Nothing is resolved on its own: you decide which one applies.
Each rule card shows the text summary (for example, "Partner Downtown Store gets 10% of the sale received, for 3 installments"), who it applies to, the validity and the Documented, Awaiting approval, Conflict and Replaces the general rule badges.
Action plan
Distribution actions are linked to a strategy, a channel or a partner and also show in Marketing → Actions. Each action has a status (To do, Doing, Waiting, Done, Canceled), priority, due date, owner, planned budget, actual cost, checklist, attachments and comments.
Use template: channel activation creates 7 actions with due dates from the chosen date: define the offer, define the commercial terms, prepare the materials, set up how to identify opportunities, brief the partners, run the pilot and review the results. If the actions already exist for the channel, nothing is duplicated.
Results and indicators
In Record you log an Opportunity, a Sale, a Receipt, a Cost or a Commission. On a sale with a partner, the screen shows the suggested commission from the active commission rules and the partner's approved compensation; you confirm and the commission is created as forecast. If the rules conflict, there is no suggestion: the screen explains why and you type the amount.
| Indicator | How it is calculated |
|---|---|
| Opportunities and Sales | sum of the quantities recorded in the period |
| Conversion | sales linked to an opportunity ÷ opportunities (the basis shows next to it) |
| Revenue sold and Revenue received | sum of sales and sum of receipts, kept separate |
| Costs | recorded costs; the channels' fixed cost shows separately, without adding up |
| Forecast and paid commissions | forecast and approved commissions, and the paid ones |
| Average ticket | revenue sold ÷ sales |
| Contribution margin | revenue sold − costs − commissions, only with a cost recorded in the period |
"Not recorded yet" means there is no record of that type; zero means there are records and the sum came to zero. In the comparison by channel, each sale counts once, in the main channel; supporting channels show in Took part in, outside the total. See also Marketing.
What doesn't exist yet
It shows on screen as Coming soon and is never simulated: integration with stores, marketplaces and checkout; automatic tracking of referrals and sales; automatic reading of followers and engagement; payment and settlement of commissions through the platform (marking as paid is only a record); automated rules; partner portal; and the link with the agency material request.
Permissions and limits
- To open Distribution you need a role with Manage integrations, the same permission as Marketing; with it you create, edit, duplicate, pause, archive and record results.
- Approving commercial terms (activating a price, commission, payment or exclusivity rule, approving a partner's compensation and marking a commission as approved or paid) requires the Approve commercial terms permission or being an admin. People who only edit save as Awaiting approval.
- AI agents connected through MCP can read and record strategies, channels, partners, rules and results, but do not approve commercial terms.
- The partner's CPF or CNPJ (Brazilian tax ID) is validated; links only with https://; contracts and materials as images or PDFs up to 10 MB.
Frequently asked questions
See also
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