What sell-through rate means
Sell-through rate is the share of the stock you had that actually sold to customers in a period. If a store receives 100 units and sells 60 of them, its sell-through is 60%.
For a wholesale brand, it is the number that tells you whether a product is working on a stockist's shelf. A store that sold most of its first order is likely to reorder. A store sitting on most of it is not, however good the product looked at the trade show. It is just as useful for your own shop: a low rate means cash tied up in stock, and a high rate means you may run out.
How the calculator works
- Opening stock is what was already on hand when the period started. For a first order or a new product, leave it at 0.
- Units received is what arrived during the period, such as the units you shipped to a store.
- Units sold is what sold to end customers in the same period. For a stockist, ask for their sales, not your invoices: your invoice shows what they bought, not what they sold.
- Add the weeks in the period to see the weekly pace, and a target to see how many more sales you need to reach it.
The calculator adds opening stock and units received to get the units available, then divides units sold by that total.
The sell-through formula
| Figure | Formula |
|---|---|
| Units available | Opening stock + units received |
| Sell-through rate | Units sold ÷ units available × 100 |
| Units left | Units available − units sold |
| Units sold per week | Units sold ÷ weeks |
| Weeks of stock left | Units left ÷ units sold per week |
| More units to reach target | Target rate × units available − units sold |
Worked example
A stationery brand ships a gift shop 240 notebooks as a first order. After 8 weeks, the shop has sold 168.
- Units available: 0 + 240 = 240
- Sell-through: 168 ÷ 240 = 70%
- Units left: 240 − 168 = 72
- Pace: 168 ÷ 8 = 21 units a week, or about 8.8% of the order each week
- At that pace, the 72 units left last about 3.4 weeks
- To reach 80% sell-through, the shop needs to sell 80% × 240 − 168 = 24 more
With about three weeks of stock left and a steady pace, this is a good moment for the brand to suggest a reorder. Now say the shop already had 60 notebooks from an earlier order. Units available become 300, and the same 168 sales give a sell-through of 56%, with 132 units still on the shelf. Leaving out opening stock would have made the product look stronger than it is.
Common mistakes
- Using units shipped instead of units sold. Your sales to a store are sell-in. Sell-through is what the store sold to its customers.
- Leaving out opening stock. If stock carried over from an earlier period, count it, or the rate will look too high.
- Comparing different periods. A 60% rate after four weeks is far stronger than 60% after six months. Compare like with like, or use the weekly figure.
- Judging too early. One good weekend can make a new product look like a hit. Give it a few weeks before you decide.
- Chasing 100%. Selling out quickly can mean lost sales and an empty shelf. Plan the reorder before stock runs out.
Using sell-through with stockists
There is no single good rate, because it depends on the category, the season and the length of the period. What matters most is the trend for each product and each store. Ask stockists for sales figures at a regular interval, such as every four weeks, and use the rate to decide what to reorder, what to discount and what to drop.
To check what each unit costs you, use the COGS calculator. To make larger reorders more attractive, set up tiers with the bulk discount calculator. When a store is ready to reorder, send them an order form so they can pick quantities in a few minutes.