Blog · Wallet share and penetration
Share of wallet is one formula and twelve different denominators. This hub sets out, for twelve industries, what the customer's wallet is, where the number comes from, what the numerator is in that industry's ledger, and the natural ceiling a share can reach, with a link to the full guide for each. Written for a commercial leader who has heard the term and wants to know what it means for their desk.
Share of wallet is the measure that says how much of a customer's spend the company holds. The numerator is always in the ledger. The denominator is the customer's wallet, and what that is depends on the desk. This hub gives the wallet, its source, the numerator and the ceiling for twelve industries, with the full guide for each.
Share of wallet = our sales to the customer ÷ the customer's category spend, same period
Everything below is about the second half.
| Industry | The wallet | Source | Numerator | Ceiling | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foodservice distribution | The kitchen's category basket, from its menu type and covers | Norm from fully-supplied kitchens of the type | Delivered category value | High: kitchens single-source most categories | Menu-driven demand |
| Industrial distribution | The account's category spend for its size and type | Norm from main-supplier accounts | Category revenue by branch | High | Category penetration |
| Asset management | The intermediary's assets in the strategy's class | Platform and industry data, scaled | Net flows and assets | Low to medium: intermediaries spread | Share of wallet in distribution |
| Commercial banking | The customer's deposits, lending and fees for its size and sector | Norm from full-relationship customers | Products used and balances | Medium | Lending-only relationships |
| Investment banking | Fees the client paid all banks across products | Public deal data with stated fee assumptions | The bank's fees | Low: clients use several banks | Fee wallet per client |
| Insurance broking | Lines the client places anywhere | Client's stated programme, or norm by sector and size | Premium placed | Medium: clients split brokers by line | Placement share |
| B2B telecoms | The customer's site estate and products per site | Tender or account review | Sites on-net, products attached | High per site | Site penetration |
| Hotel groups | The corporate's room nights in the group's markets | RFP commitment | Room nights on the negotiated rate | Medium: travellers leak to other rates | Corporate rate production |
| Freight brokerage | The shipper's loads on the lanes the broker serves | Shipper's stated volumes, or norm | Loads moved | Low to medium: shippers use several brokers | Lane share per shipper |
| Oilfield services | The operator's spend per rig on the service line | Norm from fully-served operators | Revenue per operator | Medium | Operator wallet |
| Industrial manufacturing | The customer's installed units' aftermarket at the contracted rate | Norm from contracted customers | Parts and service revenue | High for contracted fleets | Aftermarket attach |
| Wealth management | The client's total investable assets | Financial plan or fact-find, dated | Assets here | Medium to high with a plan | Held-away assets |
The report shows the source on every line.
A 45 percent share is excellent in investment banking and poor in industrial distribution. Each industry's natural concentration, from the company's own customers where wallets are known, is the ceiling a share can reasonably reach, and the gap is measured against it rather than against 100 percent. The good share of wallet guide covers the three comparisons.
Wallet unstated. A share with no source column.
Benchmark as the wallet. Someone else's customers.
Ceiling ignored. A rep chasing points the category never gives.
Averaged percentages. Weight by wallet.
Covirage computes share of wallet from the ledger and the customer master with the wallet source stated per customer, in the vocabulary of each industry. The share of wallet calculation guide covers the method in general form, and each industry hub on the blog has the desk's own version.
Yes: our sales divided by the customer's category spend, same period. What changes is what the category is, where the spend figure comes from, and how high a share can reasonably go. That is why the guide per industry exists.
Those with a tender or a stated commitment: corporate telecoms and hotel agreements, procurement contracts, broker placements. Those without use the norm from their own base: distributors, manufacturers, most financial services.
With the norm method on the ledger it has: among customers of the same size and sector where the company is the main supplier, the median spend per unit of size. That gives a wallet estimate for every customer on day one, labelled as an estimate, and it is replaced by a stated figure wherever the customer gives one.