Case Study 2 —

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Background

A legacy consumer goods manufacturer (“Brand T”) with 40+ years in the market sold kitchen staples and packaged food primarily through distributors and general trade.

They had near-zero digital presence and relied heavily on retail channels. However:

• Online search volume for their category grew 33% YoY
• Two digital-native challengers entered the category
• Modern trade began demanding digital shelf support and performance marketing

Brand T needed to embrace digital — but internal leadership feared digital expansion would cannibalize retail partners.

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The Problem

Digital transformation was stuck because of internal conflict:

• The sales team viewed e-commerce as a threat to distributors
• The distributor network demanded margin protection
• Marketing lacked digital expertise
• IT systems were outdated and not built for real-time inventory sync

The company didn’t need a digital strategy — it needed a digital-first operating model without damaging retail relationships.

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Transformation Strategy — Digital Without Cannibalization

Rather than bypass distributors, Brand T adopted a “partner-enabled digital model”:

Channel	Fulfilment Decision
Marketplaces	Inventory shipped via regional distributors
D2C website	Orders routed to nearest distributor for picking
Quick commerce	Bundles designed specifically for rapid-rotation SKUs
Modern trade	Co-funded digital shelf placements via marketing budget

Digital didn’t replace distributors — it enhanced them.

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Execution — 14-Month Roadmap

Quarter	Initiatives
Q1	ERP upgrade, distributor onboarding for digital fulfilment, SKU rationalisation
Q2	Launch marketplace storefronts, real-time stock visibility, content overhaul
Q3	Launch D2C website (fulfilment via distributors), influencer + sampling campaigns
Q4	Quick-commerce partnerships, loyalty engine, cross-sell automation

All major digital channels were launched — without taking inventory away from distributor networks.

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Results (Month 14 vs. Month 0)

Metric	Before	After	Change
Online contribution	1.4%	18.7%	+17.3pp
Retail sales	Flat	+9% growth	digital added without cannibalizing
Distributor satisfaction	—	+21% improvement	due to shared digital revenue
Inventory turns	5.2	7.1	+36%
Marketing ROI	₹1 → ₹2.3	₹1 → ₹5.1	+122% uplift

Digital didn’t replace the traditional model — it scaled it.

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Key Lesson

Digital transformation doesn’t need to disrupt core retail sales. When digital is designed to activate — not bypass — the physical value chain, growth becomes additive, not cannibalistic.

*We take our clients' confidentiality seriously. While we 've changed their names, the results are real.