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How to Identify Your Most Profitable Sales Channels

Not every sale contributes equally to your business.

One sales channel might generate the highest turnover.

Another might generate the highest profit.

A third might require the least effort to service.

If you’re only looking at total sales, you could be investing in the wrong areas of your business.

The key is understanding which channels actually deliver the greatest return.

What Is a Sales Channel?

Every business is different.

Your sales channels might include:

  • Field sales.
  • Internal sales.
  • Telephone sales.
  • Trade counters.
  • Branches.
  • Distributors.
  • Dealers.
  • Online sales.
  • eCommerce websites.
  • Amazon or online marketplaces.
  • Key account managers.
  • Regional offices.

Whether you use Sage 50, Sage 200, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Exchequer, Pegasus Opera, Dynamics NAV, SAP Business One, Xero, Access Dimensions, Kerridge, Intact, Brightpearl, Oracle NetSuite or another ERP system, your business is already collecting valuable sales information.

The challenge is turning it into meaningful reporting.

Revenue Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

One channel might produce £2 million in annual sales.

Another produces £1.2 million.

At first glance, the larger channel appears more successful.

But what if:

  • Gross margins are lower?
  • Discounting is higher?
  • Returns are more frequent?
  • Customer retention is poorer?
  • Support costs are significantly higher?
  • Orders are smaller and more expensive to process?

Without proper reporting, those differences remain hidden.

One Managing Director told us:

“We were investing heavily in the busiest part of the business, not the most profitable.”

A Real Customer Story

A distributor approached Illuminis Insight Software because management wanted to understand which parts of the business were driving profit.

They had excellent reports from Sage 200 showing sales by branch and by account manager.

What they couldn’t easily see was profitability by sales channel.

Every month someone exported data into Excel and manually created comparison reports.

The reports took days to produce.

They still didn’t answer all of management’s questions.

We worked with the business to understand how they sold their products.

Which channels mattered.

How profitability should be measured.

Then we built automated reporting in Octelas that compared:

  • Revenue by sales channel.
  • Gross profit.
  • Gross margin.
  • Average order value.
  • Customer growth.
  • Repeat business.
  • Product mix.
  • Year-on-year performance.
  • Sales trends.

The management team quickly discovered that one of their fastest-growing channels was also their most profitable.

That insight influenced future investment and recruitment decisions.

The Sales Director later told us:

“The reporting changed where we invested our sales budget.”

Better Reporting Changed the Strategy

Another customer assumed their field sales team generated the greatest value.

After analysing the data, they found that their internal sales team consistently achieved higher margins and better customer retention.

The business hadn’t recognised this because the reporting focused almost entirely on turnover.

Once the information became visible, management adjusted incentives, training and investment.

The Managing Director later commented:

“The numbers challenged assumptions we’d held for years.”

That’s exactly what good reporting should do.

How Much Time Does This Reporting Take Today?

Many SMEs already produce sales channel reports.

Someone exports data from the ERP.

Someone updates Excel.

Someone creates charts.

Someone emails PDFs.

The reports eventually arrive.

But how much time does that process consume every month?

One day?

Two days?

More?

Now multiply that across an entire year.

Automation isn’t simply about producing reports faster.

It’s about allowing skilled employees to spend their time analysing the results instead of creating them.

Reporting Built Around Your Business

Every organisation defines sales channels differently.

Some compare branches.

Some compare websites.

Others compare sales teams, distributors, account managers or regions.

That’s why Illuminis Insight Software doesn’t believe in off-the-shelf reporting.

We begin by understanding your business.

We review the reports you already produce.

We understand the questions your management team asks.

Then we recreate and improve your reporting inside Octelas.

The reports remain familiar.

The manual work disappears.

More Than a Reporting Tool

Software alone won’t tell you where to invest.

You need reporting that’s designed around your business.

That’s what Illuminis Insight Software provides.

We automate ERP data extraction.

We eliminate repetitive Excel reporting.

We build reports that answer real business questions.

And because we’re your long-term reporting and data partner, your reporting continues improving as your business evolves.

Whether you need another KPI, another dashboard or another ERP system integrated, we’re there to help.

Invest in the Channels That Deliver the Greatest Return

The businesses that grow most successfully understand where their profits really come from.

They don’t rely on assumptions.

They rely on data.

Octelas, developed by Illuminis Insight Software, automatically combines data from Sage, Microsoft Dynamics, Exchequer, Pegasus Opera, SAP Business One, Xero, Brightpearl, Oracle NetSuite and many other ERP systems to analyse sales performance across channels, branches, regions, teams and product groups.

Instead of manually building Excel reports every month, your management team receives accurate, automated insights that help identify the most profitable channels, improve investment decisions and maximise long-term business growth.

That’s why businesses across manufacturing, wholesale, distribution, engineering and many other sectors choose Illuminis Insight Software as their trusted reporting and data partner—because the best investment decisions begin with the right information.