FMCG/CPG metric
What is the active customer base
The active customer base is the number of retail outlets that had at least one transaction - an order or a shipment - in the chosen period. It is not the size of the customer catalogue: an outlet enters on the fact of a transaction, and the activity rule and the period are set before the calculation.
- SFA: field sales automation
- Analytics & BI for Distribution Decisions
In detail
The customer catalogue and the base that actually buys are different quantities, and they usually diverge widely. The catalogue keeps closed outlets, duplicates of one shop, outlets handed to another channel, and prospects that never transacted at all. The active customer base separates those who really do buy.
The indicator is rarely read alone. The total customer base is put next to it - which shows not only how many outlets are active but what share of them are - along with the average shipment value per active outlet, because a base also widens on small occasional orders.
The indicator is sensitive to the definition of activity. An outlet that placed an order but did not accept the delivery is active under one rule and inactive under another; changing the rule changes the value without a single change in the team’s work. So the rule is fixed and is not changed inside a period being compared.
Growth of the base and growth of sales are not the same thing. A base widens through new outlets while volume more often comes from existing ones, so the indicator is paired with assortment matrix compliance and with order repeatability: otherwise a new outlet counts as an achievement even after a solitary transaction.
How it is measured
- One activity event is chosen: an order, a shipment or a payment received. Different departments cannot count on different events.
- The period is set as a calendar one and kept the same across every comparison: an outlet with a solitary transaction enters the base the same way as an outlet that orders regularly.
- The denominator is the total customer base in the same perimeter. The catalogue is cleaned of duplicates and closed outlets first, otherwise the active share is understated.
- Views of the calculation: employee, route, branch, sales channel, product category.
- The data comes from the customer base with its history of orders, shipments and debt, so an outlet’s activity is not entered by hand.
- Values by period and by view are shown in consolidated reporting and on KPI dashboards next to plan achievement.