Direct store delivery

Direct to Store Delivery (DSD) is a form of distribution where the distributor/supplier delivers directly to the retail store, eliminating the retailers distribution center [1]

DSD is a business process that manufacturers use to sell and distribute goods directly to point of sales (PoS) or point of consumption (PoC) including additional product and market related services such as merchandising, information gathering, or equipment service and bypassing retailer or wholesaler logistics. A company that performs DSD does not send goods to any locations using any independent third party actor – neither an independent wholesaler, nor the retailer‘s own warehouses.

DSD is mainly used by the manufacturers of perishable consumable goods such as tobacco, greetings cards, beverages, baked goods and snacks and pharmaceuticals. [2]

DSD is an alternative distribution model to centralized distribution and tends to be used extensively in the food industry for fresh products such as milk and bread where minimizing time in the supply chain is a concern. Similarly, DSD is effective for full truckload orders where bypassing distribution centers makes economic sense. DSD is a favored approach when there is a strong requirement for supplier knowledge or service such as is the case with greeting cards, for example. Having said this, there is pressure building up in the food supply chain to reduce the retailer's reliance on DSD and push more volume through centralized distribution channels. [3]