Free tool
Distribution gap calculator
Most brands can tell you their ACV. Almost none can tell you their distribution gap, the shelf they’re leaving on the table versus the category leader. Enter your %ACV by SKU and get your TDP, your gap against a category benchmark, and a fair-share estimate of the distribution you’re missing. No login.
Your SKUs
Enter each SKU’s %ACV distribution. TDP is the sum.
Running TDP: 150
Your category leader’s TDP. Presets are illustrative ranges from our TDP guide, not a Scout benchmark.
Turns the gap into an estimated fair-share revenue opportunity.
Your total distribution points
150 TDP
75% brand %ACV (your broadest SKU) · ≈ 2 SKUs per carrying store
- Distribution gap vs. benchmark
- 90 TDP38% behind
- Benchmark reached (240 TDP)
- 63%
Email me this breakdown
Get your TDP, gap, and fair-share estimate as a shareable report, plus how brands your size close the same gaps.
TDP is the sum of each SKU’s %ACV (what is TDP?). The benchmark is the category figure you enter; the presets are illustrative ranges, not a guarantee. Fair-share headroom assumes your revenue per distribution point holds as you expand. Estimate only.
How the math works
Everything on this page is built from one input you already have: each SKU’s %ACV distribution. Four numbers come out.
TDP (Total Distribution Points). The sum of every SKU’s %ACV. Five SKUs at 75, 45, 20, 7, and 3 give 75 + 45 + 20 + 7 + 3 = 150 TDP. It is not brand %ACV times a SKU count, which double-counts your broadest SKU. See what is TDP for why summing is the only correct way.
Brand %ACV. The reach of your broadest SKU, since the stores carrying any of your items are the stores carrying the widest one. Dividing TDP by brand %ACV also gives your ACV-weighted average SKUs per carrying store (150 / 75 = 2.0). More on what ACV is.
Distribution gap. Your category benchmark TDP minus your own. That is the shelf you have not claimed yet, in distribution points.
Fair-share opportunity. Optional. Enter your revenue and, holding your revenue per distribution point steady, the tool scales it to benchmark distribution. The difference is a directional estimate of the revenue that closing the gap could add, not a guarantee.
From gap to plan
The calculator sizes the opportunity. These show what closing it actually takes.
Optimize distribution
Turn the gap into a plan: which doors to chase, which SKUs to expand, and where velocity says you have room to grow.
What is TDP?
The methodology behind the metric: why TDP is the sum of each SKU's %ACV, and the traps of reading it as one number.
What is ACV?
All-commodity volume, the ACV-weighted reach that every SKU's distribution number is built on.
Frequently asked questions
- What is TDP and how is it calculated?
- TDP (Total Distribution Points) is a brand-level distribution metric: the sum of every SKU's %ACV distribution. A brand with five SKUs at 75%, 45%, 20%, 7%, and 3% %ACV has 75 + 45 + 20 + 7 + 3 = 150 TDP. It is not brand %ACV multiplied by a raw SKU count, which double-counts the broadest SKU.
- What is the difference between TDP and brand %ACV?
- Brand %ACV is the reach of your single broadest SKU: the share of all-commodity volume at the stores carrying at least one of your items. TDP folds that breadth together with your assortment depth across those stores. Adding a second SKU to doors you already hold raises TDP without moving %ACV, which is exactly the shelf gain %ACV alone misses.
- How is the distribution gap calculated?
- The gap is your category benchmark TDP minus your own TDP: the distribution points of headroom between you and the leader. Reaching benchmark distribution while holding your revenue per distribution point constant is what the fair-share estimate scales, so you can size the opportunity in dollars.
- Where do the category benchmarks come from?
- The preset ranges are illustrative typical figures from our TDP methodology guide, not a fixed industry standard, so the honest number to compare against is your own category leader's actual TDP, which you can type straight into the benchmark field. We are compiling validated cross-brand distribution benchmarks from Scout's harmonized POS and syndicated data; until those publish, use your real comparison number.
- Is there a login, and is my data stored?
- No login and no email wall. Every number is computed in your browser from the figures you type, and nothing is saved unless you choose to email yourself the report. Run it on your top brand as many times as you like.
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