A few thousand bottles, many more requests
The single cask or small batch release is ready. Specialist whisky shops want it, distributors in several markets want it, your own shop and webshop want it, and the visitor centre needs some for people who travel to you. The sales manager opens a spreadsheet, looks at last year's release and starts moving numbers around, fielding calls from retailers who want more than last time.
Whatever the final split, someone feels hard done by, and it is hard to explain why because the reasons were never written down.
Why allocation is fraught
Allocation is a judgement about relationships, sales history and brand, made under pressure with incomplete information. Sales history is scattered across invoices. Promises made by reps are in their heads. Each release is allocated from scratch, so the same arguments recur. Confirmations and orders are chased by email.
- Past allocations and sell-through are not in one place.
- Rules such as priority for loyal accounts are informal.
- Promises made by sales staff are not recorded.
- Allocations are sent by email and confirmations chased.
- Unconfirmed bottles are reallocated by hand.
What a messy allocation costs
Strained relationships with retailers who feel unfairly treated. Bottles held for accounts that do not confirm, then rushed out. Time from senior staff over days. And sometimes, bottles ending up with accounts that simply flip them, which is not what you wanted for your release.
It also makes planning the next release harder. Without a record of which shops confirmed quickly, which declined and which sold through within a week, every allocation starts from the same argument, and the loudest account tends to win it.
Distributors in export markets add another layer. They may need a different bottle size or a market-specific label, and their numbers have to be settled early enough for that packaging to be produced, which means their share cannot wait for the domestic arguments to finish.
An allocation tool you can explain
- Each trade account has a history: releases allocated, confirmed, how quickly they sold through if they share that, and any notes.
- For a new release, you set the total and the reserves: own shop, visitor centre, webshop, press and archive.
- You choose rules, for example weighting by past support, a minimum per specialist shop, or a cap per account. The tool drafts a split.
- You adjust any account by hand, with a note of why, which is kept for next time.
- Each account receives its allocation by email with a link to confirm or decline by a date.
- Confirmations become orders in your sales system or Xero. Declined or expired bottles return to a pool you reallocate with the same view.
- After the release, a summary shows who got what and why, ready for next time's conversation.
| Step | Before | With the tool |
|---|---|---|
| History | Old spreadsheets and invoices | One view per account |
| Draft split | From memory | From rules you set |
| Adjustments | Unrecorded | Recorded with a note |
| Confirmations | Chased by email | Link with a deadline |
| Unclaimed bottles | Reallocated ad hoc | Returned to a pool |
A release you can stand behind
Allocation takes an afternoon instead of days. Retailers get their numbers in a clear, consistent way. When someone asks why they got fewer bottles, you can explain it from their record. Unconfirmed bottles move quickly to accounts that want them. And each release makes the next one easier, because the history builds up.
Does your release allocation look like this?
- Allocation is done in a spreadsheet from memory.
- Retailers regularly dispute their share.
- Confirmations are chased by email.
- Promises from reps surface after allocation is done.
- You have no record of why past allocations were made.