IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bjf/ijltem/v15y2026i7a166.html

Optimizing Fertilizer Dealer Performance through a Transaction-Based Dealer Performance Index and Market Segmentation Evidence from FACT Dealers in Tamil Nadu, India

Author

Listed:
  • Suresh P. R.

    (Doctoral Scholar, Department of Business Administration, Annamalai University, India)

  • Selvarasu A.

    (Professor, Department of Business Administration, Annamalai University, India)

Abstract

Fertilizer dealers are a critical last-mile link between manufacturers and farmers, yet dealer evaluation often relies on sales turnover alone and therefore overlooks differences in transaction intensity, product breadth and continuity of market activity. The purpose of this study is to optimize fertilizer dealer performance by developing a transaction-based Dealer Performance Index (DPI) and identifying statistically distinct dealer segments among Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) dealers in Tamil Nadu, India. FACT transaction records for 2019–2024 were reviewed, while the empirical segmentation uses the verified 2024 active frame. The 2024 database contains 9,129 transactions, 874 active dealers across 38 districts and 113,715.30 metric tonnes of fertilizer sales. A proportionate district-by-dealer-type sample of 274 dealers was drawn, comprising 165 retailers and 109 wholesalers. Dealer-level indicators were total quantity, transaction frequency, product breadth and active months; the DPI combined min–max normalized indicators with equal weights, and K-means solutions from two to six clusters were compared using silhouette, Calinski–Harabasz and Davies–Bouldin criteria. A two-cluster solution provided the clearest parsimonious structure. The lower-activity segment contained 122 dealers with a mean DPI of 16.96, whereas the higher-activity segment contained 152 dealers with a mean DPI of 47.92. DPI differed strongly across clusters (F = 417.24, p

Suggested Citation

  • Suresh P. R. & Selvarasu A., 2026. "Optimizing Fertilizer Dealer Performance through a Transaction-Based Dealer Performance Index and Market Segmentation Evidence from FACT Dealers in Tamil Nadu, India," International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied Science, RSIS International, vol. 15(7), pages 2089-2104, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bjf:ijltem:v:15:y:2026:i:7:a:166
    DOI: 10.51583/IJLTEMAS.2026.150700160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ijltemas.in/uploads/vol15-iss7-pg2089-2104-202608_pdf.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.ijltemas.in/article/optimizing-fertilizer-dealer-performance-through-a-transaction-based-dealer-performance-index-and-market-segmentation-evidence-from-fact-dealers-in-tamil-nadu-india
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.51583/IJLTEMAS.2026.150700160?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bjf:ijltem:v:15:y:2026:i:7:a:166. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ijltemas.in/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.