Three numbers run a charger distribution business: sell-through, returns and support tickets. Each is useful only when it is defined once, computed the same way every period, and built from your own records. This article gives each KPI as a formula in your numbers, the decision it feeds, and the misreading to avoid. No benchmark figures are quoted, because none is published for your market and your models — your own trend, per model, is the benchmark that means anything.
Key Takeaways
- Define sell-through, returns and tickets once, in your own numbers, and never change the definitions mid-series.
- Split returns into dead-on-arrival, fault and commercial piles — each points at a different fix.
- Read ticket types, not ticket totals: training gaps and product faults look identical in a blended count.
- No external benchmark substitutes for your own per-model trend; agree with your supplier what data each side supplies.
The Three KPIs, Defined
| Measure | Your formula | The decision it feeds | The misreading to avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell-through | Units of a model sold in the period ÷ units of that model available (opening stock plus units received) in the same period | Reorder depth per model, and which lines to prune at range review | One large project order read as steady demand — strip project spikes out before you reorder against them |
| Returns | Units returned in the period ÷ units sold in the period, counted in three separate piles: dead on arrival, fault returns, and commercial returns (wrong item, changed mind) | Goods-in inspection effort, listing accuracy, and the evidence file you take back to the supplier | One blended rate: the three piles have three different owners, and a blend hides all of them |
| Support tickets | Tickets opened in the period ÷ units sold in the period, split by type: installation question, configuration or app question, suspected fault | Installer training content, manual and listing fixes, and what you escalate to the manufacturer | A spike read only as product failure — a spike that follows a new installer cohort usually marks a training gap, not a hardware fault |
How to Run the Review
- Per model, never blended across the range. A portable charger and a dual-connector station live different lives; a range-wide average is a number that describes nothing you stock.
- Same period, same definitions. Compare like with like — a quarter against the quarter before, with the formulas unchanged. A KPI whose definition drifts measures your bookkeeping, not your business.
- Write the decision next to the number. A review that ends with figures but no reorder, training or escalation decision was a report, not a review.
- Treat a fault cluster differently from a fault rate. A steady trickle of unrelated faults is a quality conversation. A sudden cluster of the same fault, on the same model, in the same weeks is a pattern — that is the signal to open your recall-readiness conversation with the supplier early, while serial numbers are still easy to trace. Our overview of common EV charger faults and how suppliers should handle them sets out what good handling looks like from the factory side.
What These Numbers Ask of Your Supplier
Your KPIs are only as good as the data behind them, and part of that data is the manufacturer’s. Before the first order, settle what you will get: serial-level traceability for the units you stock, a fault-analysis answer rather than a silent replacement, and spare-parts and returns handling in writing. Our distributor’s checklist for warranty and after-sales terms and our guide to spare parts and the RMA process for distributors list the terms to pin down. EVDANCE is a Shenzhen manufacturer founded in 2011, exports to more than 30 countries, offers private label from 100 units and carries a 3-year standard warranty; distributors work through our resellers and distributors program — bring your KPI definitions to that conversation via our contact page and agree what each side reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good sell-through rate for a charger distributor?
There is no published figure that applies to your market, your models and your period length, and any source quoting one without those three qualifiers is guessing. Judge a model’s sell-through against its own previous periods and against the other models on your shelf.
How often should we calculate these KPIs?
On a fixed rhythm you can sustain — monthly or quarterly both work. The value is in the unbroken series: same formulas, same period length, reviewed with the decisions recorded.
Do rising support tickets mean the product is bad?
Not by themselves. Read the split first. Installation and configuration tickets usually point at training or documentation; suspected-fault tickets that repeat one symptom on one model are the ones that belong in a quality escalation.
Related Reading
- EV Charger Warranty and After-Sales Terms: A Distributor’s Checklist
- EV Charger Spare Parts and RMA Process for Distributors
- Common EV Charger Faults and How Suppliers Should Handle Them
- How Distributors Can Build a Profitable EV Charger Product Line
