Industry guide
Wholesale distribution data licensing: how to sell distributor data to AI companies
On this page
The short answer
Yes, you can sell distributor data to AI companies: a wholesale distributor can license a de-identified copy of its records, and some buyers name the category. One broker lists “Wholesale and distribution” among its industries and puts distribution in its strongest demand (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory). Each figure on this page is a program's own advertised term; our buyer directory lists the programs and links to their published terms. Buyers want what your team created in the ERP and inbox: quotes that won or lost, purchase orders, replenishment history, service tickets and returns.
Most programs look for about 20+ full-time staff and several years on one system. Customer price matrices, manufacturer SPAs, card data and patient data usually stay out. You keep your records and license a copy.
Why AI companies want wholesale distributor data
AI labs are building agents that do office work, and they need examples of real work with real results. A distributor produces that all day. An inside sales rep gets a request for an item that is out of stock and offers a substitute. A buyer sees a supplier slip a ship date and decides whether to expedite, split the order or source elsewhere. A credit manager decides whether to release an order for an account that is 45 days past due. Every one of those calls ends in an outcome the ERP records: the quote converted or it did not, the line shipped complete or backordered, the invoice was paid or written off.
Three things make a distributor's records stand out from other businesses its size:
- The ERP is the spine. Quotes, sales orders, purchase orders, receipts, inventory transfers, returns and AR all share item numbers, order numbers and customer numbers. A decade on one system gives long series that link end to end, which is what buyers rank highest.
- Outcomes are built in. Won or lost, on time or late, stocked out or written off, accepted or denied, paid or collected. A lab cannot easily make that kind of labeled history on its own.
- The volume is high. By our estimate, a mid-size distributor writes thousands of order lines a day, each with its own trail of emails, notes and adjustments.
Buyers describe what they want in the same terms. One AI training-data company lists “Order records, inventory logs, listings” as examples; a large AI training-data company names inventory management and fulfillment workflows in its operations and logistics domain; and a broker that names the category lists procurement, inventory and fulfillment exceptions (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory). For a short version written for owners, our overview of what distribution records are worth to AI labs lays out the records and the process on one page.
AI buyers that name wholesale and distribution
These are the programs in our registry whose own pages name wholesale or distribution, shown by type. Each cell is the program's own published term; our buyer directory lists the programs and links to where each says so.
| Program | What it names | Who qualifies | Advertised pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broker A | Wholesale and distribution | 20+ full-time staff now or at peak, 3+ years of records, US-based, working mainly in English. Operating, downsizing and closed firms qualify. | An estimator example of $385K to $895K for a 100-person, 10-year firm, labeled an illustration based on its partner's payout model. |
| Broker D | Wholesale and distribution | Its estimate form accepts 20 to 5,000 full-time employees and 3 to 100 years in operation, with regions of US, Canada, Australia, Europe and other. "Data from any industry may qualify." | "Your company's operational data could be worth $50k-$4M+." It says the company keeps ownership of the underlying data and is paid for each licensing deal done with an AI lab. |
A few more name the category or its records without a full program entry for it. A data marketplace lists “Wholesale & distribution” on its partner page alongside invoices and quotes, an enterprise data program offers “Wholesale & Distribution” in its industry dropdown and asks for sourcing, procurement, payables and receivables, and a buyer program for industrial companies lists order and stock system exports, complaints and credit notes, and quotes and costings (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory). That last one fits industrial, MRO, electrical and PVF distributors better than consumer goods wholesalers, in our reading.
Other large programs take distributors on size rather than industry. Several buyer programs accept most industries if you clear their headcount gates, and several name systems a distributor runs, such as NetSuite, QuickBooks, Salesforce and HubSpot (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
Distributor ERP data AI buyers value for training
The pattern across buyers is simple: they want what your people wrote, decided and resolved. What manufacturers and software vendors supplied usually stays out. Here is how that maps to a distributor.
| Record type | Where it usually lives | Why buyers value it |
|---|---|---|
| Customer quotes and quote-to-order conversion | ERP quote module (Prophet 21, Eclipse, Infor CloudSuite Distribution, NetSuite, Acumatica, DDI System, Business Central), email, Excel | Pricing and substitution judgment with a won or lost outcome. Customer-specific prices usually need masking (see below) |
| Sales orders and order lines, many years deep | ERP order entry, B2B e-commerce (Epicor Commerce Connect, Unilog, Optimizely) | Huge volume that links to inventory, margin and returns |
| Purchase orders, supplier confirmations and expedite emails | ERP purchasing, Outlook or Gmail, supplier portals | Supply-risk judgment that ends in on time, short or late |
| Inventory and replenishment history | ERP inventory and planning: min and max, forecasts, transfers, cycle counts, dead stock | Long time series of reorder decisions with stockout or write-off outcomes |
| Customer service tickets and shared-inbox history | Shared Outlook inbox, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Salesforce Service Cloud | Order status, backorder and dispute conversations, each with a resolution |
| Returns, RMAs, credits and warranty claims | ERP RMA module, email | Accept or deny calls with a cost attached |
| Credit decisions, AR and collections notes | ERP credit module, AR tools, email | Credit-risk judgment followed by payment history |
| Warehouse picks, put-away, cycle counts and shipping | ERP warehouse module or an add-on WMS, shipping software | Operations history with labeled errors and mispicks |
| Delivery routing and proof of delivery | Routing software, driver apps | Route and exception data for your own fleet |
| Sales rep CRM activity and call notes | Salesforce, HubSpot, the ERP's CRM | Account management linked to the orders that followed |
| Value-add work orders | ERP job or production module (kitting, assembly, cutting, fabrication) | Light manufacturing workflows with time and scrap |
| SOPs, training and product knowledge | SharePoint, Google Drive, the ERP's notes | Your written rules for quoting, substitutions, credit and returns |
Two rows deserve a closer look. Quotes are the most valuable record most distributors have, and the one with the most pricing inside it, so they are usually licensed with customer-specific prices removed or turned into margin bands. Item masters often mix your own enriched attributes and cross-references with manufacturer catalog content and images that came under a content license; your additions are usually fine, the manufacturer's content usually is not.
The test that sorts most distributor records
Did someone on your team type it, decide it or write it? If yes, it is usually the kind of record buyers want. Did it arrive from a manufacturer price file, a content subscription, a special pricing agreement or your ERP vendor's documentation? Then it usually stays out, even when it sits inside your ERP.
Who qualifies to sell distributor data to AI
Headcount gates are where most distributors win or lose a buyer, and the question is usually how many of your people work at desks.
| Program | Size gate | History |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer program E | 20+ full-time US office employees; only office staff count | 3+ years of records still in your systems, 5+ systems |
| Broker A | 20+ full-time staff now or at peak, any role | 3+ years of records |
| Buyer program C | 20+ full-time employees | 3+ years in operation |
| Buyer program D | 20+ full-time US W-2 employees | 3+ years in business |
| Broker D | 20 to 5,000 full-time employees on its estimate form | 3 to 100 years in operation |
| Buyer program A | 30+ employees; its form describes 30 to 200 | No minimum published |
| Broker B | About 30+ employees | Several years of history |
| Buyer program H | 40+ employees as a preferred starting point | Asks for years of records |
| Marketplace A, Buyer program K | No minimum published | Longer history valued more |
Desk staff versus warehouse, counter and drivers
A distributor splits its people between desks and the floor. By our estimate, about 40 to 60 percent of a typical distributor's staff work at desks: inside sales, purchasing, customer service, credit, accounting and IT. The rest work in the warehouse, at the counter or on delivery routes. That matters because Buyer program E states its gate as full-time US office employees and says only office staff count (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory). On our estimate, a distributor needs roughly 40 to 50 total employees to have 20 at desks. Programs that count all full-time staff, such as Broker A, are the route below that line.
Years on one ERP
In our view the strongest candidates have 15 or more years in business and 10 or more on the same ERP. A migration often breaks the link between old orders and the emails, tickets and returns around them, and many hosted systems only bring a few years across. If you migrated from an on-premises system such as Prophet 21, Eclipse, SX.e or Sage 100 and kept the old server or a database backup, that archive may still count. Our guide to exporting your history from P21, Infor CSD, NetSuite and other distribution ERPs covers what each system lets you take.
How many distributors fit, for context
Census business counts for 2022 show 38,270 firms in wholesale trade (sector 42) with 20 to 499 employees, and 26,464 with 30 to 499. Durable goods wholesalers (NAICS 423) account for 23,589 of the first group and nondurable (424) for 13,788. Among the subsectors that fit best: industrial machinery and equipment (423830) has 3,222 firms in that band, metal service centers (423510) 1,324, electrical supplies (423610) 1,171, industrial supplies (423840) 1,038, and plumbing and heating (423720) 534 (source: Census, Statistics of US Businesses 2022). Multi-state firms are counted once nationally. That is the largest pool of any category we track, and most of it is family-owned independents.
Who usually does not fit
- Distributors with under about 30 employees, or under 5 years on a system that holds history.
- Pharmaceutical, medical or other distributors whose records are tied to patients. One buyer program excludes health records and payment card data outright (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Government and defense distributors whose specs and drawings carry controlled information. One buyer program is not accepting defense and export-controlled work (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Distributors where most pricing and sell-through data is a manufacturer's confidential information.
- Alcohol distributors in states with price-posting or tied-house rules, which need a state-by-state look first, in our view.
What buyers advertise paying for distribution company data
No buyer publishes a price for distribution data specifically. What exists are each program's general ranges. A few that matter for a distributor:
- Buyer program E: $100K to $5M advertised, and its affiliate FAQ gives indicative offers of $200K to $500K for 20 to 49 US staff, $400K to $900K for 50 to 149, and $800K+ for 150+ (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Broker A, which names wholesale and distribution: an estimator illustration of $385K to $895K for a 100-person, 10-year firm (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Broker D, which also names the category: “$50k-$4M+” (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Marketplace A: “$250K+ Typical company deal” (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Buyer program A: $100K+ for a qualified partnership, $500K+ for large datasets, $1M+ for highly unique data (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Buyer program K: $100K to $2M+, and its track-record page shows four closed deals of $110K to $450K, each a perpetual exclusive license (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
Treat estimators with care. Broker A's example and Buyer program C's ($383,083 to $896,969 for the same 100-person, 10-year firm) are nearly identical (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory), so they are not independent valuations. What moves a distributor's price is years on one ERP, records that link by order and item number, outcomes in the data, and how much pricing has to be excluded. Our data value checker walks through those factors for your company.
What usually stays out of a wholesale distribution data license
Distribution has more third-party pricing inside its systems than most industries. That is the main thing to sort out before you talk to buyers. Here is what buyers, contracts and vendor terms say, in summary.
- Manufacturer special pricing and rebates. SPA prices, ship and debit claims, price protection credits and rebate program terms come from your suppliers. Some distribution agreements treat price lists as confidential by definition; others protect only what the supplier marks confidential. A public example filed with the SEC lets the parties negotiate special prices for specific customers (§4.2) and limits confidentiality to information designated in writing, for three years from disclosure (§8) (source: Solaria and CED Greentech distribution agreement, SEC exhibit 10.20). Our guide to special pricing agreements, rebates and price matrices in a data license goes through each.
- Customer price matrices and contract pricing. At least one broker refuses “proprietary pricing logic”, and a data marketplace excludes supplier rates you agreed to keep confidential (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory). Buyers typically take order history with these prices masked or bucketed.
- Manufacturer catalog content. Price files, images and specs that came under a content license usually cannot be redistributed. Your own enriched attributes and cross-references are a different matter.
- Card data, guarantor details and bank references. Credit applications with personal guarantees, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and counter card payments stay out. One buyer program excludes payment card data by name (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Patient data. Medical and pharmaceutical distributors that hold patient-linked records keep them out; many will not fit at all.
- EDI under trading-partner agreements. 850, 855, 856 and 810 streams with large customers are clean data, but the agreements that govern them often carry confidentiality terms, so partners are masked or the streams are left out.
- ERP vendor documentation and AI outputs. Schema guides and system design are the vendor's confidential information under the terms we read, for example Sage X3's EULA §4 (source: Sage X3 End User License Agreement, May 2018). Infor's AI terms bar using its AI systems “or any data derived therefrom” to build competing technology (§2(d)(II)) (source: Infor Additional Terms for AI Systems, US, July 1, 2026 (2(d))), so fields generated by the ERP's AI features are stripped.
- Records under legal hold and anything tied to a pending dispute.
None of this empties the dataset. Strip the manufacturer pricing and the protected fields, and what remains (orders, POs, inventory moves, tickets, returns, credit notes, CRM history and SOPs) is the part buyers say they want. You approve the scope, and each exclusion is named in the contract.
Distributor ERP data and AI training: what your software terms say
Your ERP is where the value sits, so its contract matters. Good news first: every ERP whose terms we could read today confirms the distributor owns its data. The caveats are about vendor rights to aggregated data, AI features, and how long you have to export after you cancel.
| ERP | Who owns the data | After you cancel | Vendor rights to know about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infor CloudSuite Distribution (formerly SX.e) | Customer owns all proprietary rights to its Data (ISP §4.2) | Request a native database export within 30 days (10 for single-tenant); deleted within 35 days (§11) | Infor will not commercially exploit Data (§4.2). AI terms restrict data derived from its AI systems |
| Acumatica | You own your Subscriber Data (§3.4) | Available for 60 days, then only for a fee (§5.2) | Owns aggregated statistics (§3.7). If AI Features were used, may train on that data after termination (AI Terms §3.2) |
| DDI System (Advantive) | Customer owns Customer Data (MSA §7(b)) | Advantive may destroy customer data after 90 days (§11(c)) | May use anonymized aggregated data, including for benchmarking, and publish non-identifiable aggregates (§2(e), §7(b)) |
| Oracle NetSuite | Owned exclusively by Customer (SSA §5.1) | Account deactivated and data deleted after the agreement ends; no export window stated in the SSA | Export before you give notice |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central | Your business data | Database export as a BACPAC file, up to 10 times a month per environment, on a paid subscription | Export needs an administrator with the backup and restore permission |
| Sage X3 | Your data remains your data (EULA §10.1.2.4) | Extract before the agreement ends | May use pseudonymized, aggregated data for benchmarking and forecasting; opt out by contacting Sage (§12.6) |
Two practical points follow. First, export with the ERP's own tools or your implementation partner, not a scraping tool, and keep the buyer out of your ERP; the records leave as files you approve. Second, if you plan to grant a buyer exclusivity, tell it what your vendor already holds, such as Acumatica's rights in data processed by its AI features (source: Acumatica AI Terms, June 2026 (3.2)) or Advantive's right to publish non-identifiable aggregates (source: Advantive Master Services Agreement 2025). Our guide to distribution ERP data export goes system by system, including Prophet 21 and Eclipse.
Pricing data in a distributor data license: SPAs, matrices and rebates
Pricing is where distributor deals get stuck, because the most valuable record (the quote) carries the most sensitive field (the price). Buyers split on it. At least one broker refuses proprietary pricing logic, a data marketplace excludes supplier rates you agreed to keep confidential, and another broker names “pricing and catalog histories” among the records it takes (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
The usual way through is to change the field rather than drop the record:
- Keep the quote, the items, the quantities, the substitution and the outcome.
- Replace customer-specific prices with margin bands or a percentage off list.
- Leave out SPA numbers, ship and debit claims, rebate accruals and manufacturer cost files entirely.
- Mask the customer and the supplier with consistent tokens so the history still links.
That keeps the judgment buyers pay for and takes out the numbers your suppliers and customers expect you to protect. The details, including how ship and debit works and what common distribution agreements say about confidential pricing, are in our guide to SPAs, rebates and price matrices in a distributor data license.
If you are selling or retiring from your distribution business
Distributors change hands steadily. KSM's Q2 2026 report counted 75 distribution transactions in the quarter, down from 87 in Q1, with strategic buyers leading and private equity active mainly through add-ons (source: KSM, Q2 2026 distribution M&A report). If a sale or a family succession is on your horizon, a data license is one more contract a buyer of your company will read in diligence. Exclusivity is the term to watch: one buyer program requires 24 months of seller exclusivity, and another's published deals are perpetual exclusive licenses (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
Licensing before a sale can turn an archive into cash the acquirer does not pay you for. Licensing after a sale usually means the records belong to the new owner. If you are closing instead, several programs take closed companies, but hosted ERP data has a short life after you cancel: Infor deletes within 35 days of termination (source: Infor Information Security Plan V1.26 (4.2, 11)). Our guide to licensing records before selling a distribution business covers timing, exclusivity and what an acquirer will ask.
How a wholesale distribution data deal runs, step by step
- Inventory. List your systems (ERP, email, help desk, CRM, e-commerce, WMS, routing, shared drives), how many years each holds, and roughly how many order lines a year you ship. Nothing leaves your systems at this stage.
- Scope. Decide what is in and what is out. Customer-specific prices, SPA and rebate files, manufacturer content, card and guarantor data, ERP documentation and anything under legal hold are the usual exclusions. You approve the scope, and it is written into the contract.
- De-identification. Customer names, ship-to contacts, supplier reps, employee names and driver details are masked or replaced with consistent tokens, so an order still links from quote to invoice without naming anyone. One buyer program says a specialist PII partner strips identifying fields before it or any lab sees the records, and a large AI training-data company says it removes personal information and may synthetically rewrite datasets (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Offers. Buyers review a sample or a description and make an offer. One program says it makes an offer within one to two weeks of intake (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
- Terms. Price, payment schedule, exact scope, exclusivity, permitted uses, deletion at the end of the term, and the warranties you give about your rights to the records.
- Delivery. Your staff or your ERP partner run the export, and the records go from your systems to the buyer you chose. With Regulr, they never pass through us.
- Payment. Timing varies widely. One buyer program pays by wire on delivery, typically 2 to 4 weeks after signing; another pays net 30 to 60 days after the data is approved; and one program's site expects about three months from first conversation to payment (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory).
The best position is more than one written offer, because buyers price the same records differently and treat pricing data very differently. That comparison is the work Regulr does for the seller. If you run a distribution company in a related field, our guide for freight brokers and 3PLs covers warehouse and transportation records in more depth. To see how your company would come out, start with the wholesale and distribution page and see what your records could qualify for.
How Regulr is paid, and how we write these pages
Regulr is a sell-side advisor. When a business we introduce signs a license, we may be paid a fee by the buyer or through a program's referral terms. We list every program we can verify whether or not it pays us, order is never set by fees, and every figure is the company's own advertised term with a link to where it says so. Regulr has not closed a data deal yet, so nothing here describes our results.
Frequently asked questions
Can a wholesale distributor sell its data to AI companies?
Yes. Several AI training-data companies license de-identified copies of operating records, and some name wholesale and distribution outright: one broker lists it among the industries it serves and calls distribution part of its strongest demand. What a deal covers is the record your own team created in the ERP, the inbox and the help desk, such as quotes, orders, purchase orders, inventory moves, service tickets and returns. You license a copy and keep your originals.
What distributor data do AI buyers want most?
Records that show a decision and its outcome. For a distributor that means quotes that became orders or did not, replenishment decisions that ended in a stockout or a write-off, expedite emails with suppliers, service tickets with resolutions, returns that were accepted or denied, and credit calls followed by payment history. They are worth most when one ERP links them by item, order and customer number over many years.
How much is a distribution company's data worth?
No buyer publishes a distribution-specific price. The programs that accept distributors advertise broad ranges, such as $100K to $5M at one buyer program and an illustration of $385K to $895K for a 100-person, 10-year firm at a broker that names the category. Advertised ranges are not offers. Years on one ERP, linked records and how much pricing data has to be excluded move the number most.
Can I include customer pricing and SPA prices in a data license?
Usually not as they sit in the ERP. Manufacturer special pricing agreements, customer contract prices and rebate terms are often covered by confidentiality clauses, and at least one broker refuses proprietary pricing logic outright. Buyers typically take quote and order history with customer-specific prices removed, bucketed or replaced by margin bands, and leave SPA and rebate files out.
Do warehouse and delivery staff count toward a buyer's headcount gate?
It depends on the buyer. One buyer program counts only full-time US office employees, so inside sales, purchasing, customer service, credit and accounting count while warehouse, counter and driver roles do not. Other programs count all full-time staff. By our estimate, a distributor needs roughly 40 to 50 total employees to have 20 at desks.
Does my ERP vendor let me license data I exported from it?
The ERP terms we read today say the distributor owns its data: Infor, Acumatica, Advantive (DDI System), NetSuite and Sage X3 all state it. The limits are narrower. Vendor documentation and schema guides stay out, outputs of the ERP's own AI features can carry restrictions, and hosted systems give you a short window to export after you cancel. Your signed contract is what governs.
Will my customers or suppliers find out I licensed my data?
Buyers license records with customer names, ship-to contacts, supplier reps and employee names masked or replaced with consistent tokens, so the dataset is not meant to point back to any one account. That is not a guarantee: a small customer base or an unusual product line can make a record easier to trace. Agree in writing on what is excluded, that the buyer will not try to re-identify anyone, and whether your company's name stays confidential.
Do I lose my ERP history if I license it?
No. A data license gives the buyer a de-identified copy for an agreed use and term. Your ERP, email and help desk stay where they are, and you keep running the business on them. The license decides what the buyer may do with the copy, whether it is exclusive, and whether it must be deleted at the end.
Sources
Program terms checked against their own pages on October 15, 2026; our buyer directory lists the programs and links to their published terms. ERP terms, the SEC exhibit and the KSM report read on their own pages on October 18, 2026. Census counts computed from the public SUSB 2022 file on October 15, 2026.
- program terms, Regulr buyer directory
- Census, Statistics of US Businesses 2022
- Infor Information Security Plan V1.26 (4.2, 11)
- Infor Additional Terms for AI Systems, US, July 1, 2026 (2(d))
- Acumatica Subscription SaaS Agreement (3.4, 3.7, 5.2)
- Acumatica AI Terms, June 2026 (3.2)
- Advantive Master Services Agreement 2025
- Oracle NetSuite Subscription Services Agreement v061526 (5.1)
- Sage X3 End User License Agreement, May 2018
- Microsoft Learn, exporting Business Central databases
- Solaria and CED Greentech distribution agreement, SEC exhibit 10.20
- KSM, Q2 2026 distribution M&A report
Brian Boesen · Founder, Regulr AI
Brian runs Regulr AI, which works for established businesses that want to license de-identified records to AI companies. He checks each program's published terms against its own pages and updates these guides when they change. Last updated October 18, 2026.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and Regulr is not a law firm. Rules vary by state, by profession and by contract, and they apply to your facts, not to a category. You approve exactly what is in scope before anything is shared.
Keep reading