Cumulative sell-through
Denominator: original units received
Total units sold to date ÷ original receipt quantity. Steadier and better for comparing season-to-date pace against a plan, since the denominator never changes.
Sell-through rate calculator
Sell-through rate is units sold divided by units received (or on hand), turned into a percentage. It's the fastest read on whether a style is moving fast enough to clear on schedule — and paired with weeks of supply, it's what tells you when a markdown decision is actually due, not just overdue.
Sell-through rate formula and a worked example
Sell-through rate = units sold ÷ units received (or on hand) × 100. Say a style arrived with 500 units and, after four weeks, 195 units have sold. Cumulative sell-through is 195 ÷ 500 × 100 = 39%. That leaves 305 units remaining.
If those 195 units sold across 4 weeks, average weekly units are 195 ÷ 4 = 48.75, and weeks of supply on the remaining stock is 305 ÷ 48.75 ≈ 6.3 weeks. If only 5 weeks remain before the planned season exit, that 6.3-week supply is the actual signal to act — not the 39% figure by itself.
| Step | Calculation | Result | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative sell-through | 195 ÷ 500 × 100 | 39.0% | 39% of the received quantity has sold |
| Units remaining | 500 − 195 | 305 | These are the units still needing a buyer |
| Average weekly units | 195 ÷ 4 | 48.75 / wk | The current velocity to carry forward |
| Weeks of supply | 305 ÷ 48.75 | 6.3 wks | How long the remaining stock will last at current pace |
| Markdown trigger | 6.3 wks supply vs 5 wks runway | Act now | Supply exceeds runway — price needs to move |
The 39% sell-through is not the trigger; the 6.3-week supply is. This is the conversion most markdown plans miss.
Sell-through and weeks-of-supply calculator
- Cumulative sell-through
- 39.0%
- Units remaining
- 305
- Average weekly units sold
- 48.8
- Average weekly sell-through
- 9.75%
- Weeks of supply
- 6.3 wks
Remaining units ÷ average weekly units sold.
Guards against zero or negative denominators: if units received, units sold, or weeks are zero, the affected outputs show 0% or a dash instead of dividing by zero.
| Week | Units on hand (start) | Units sold | Weekly sell-through | Cumulative sell-through |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 500 | 60 | 12.0% | 12.0% |
| Week 2 | 440 | 52 | 11.8% | 22.4% |
| Week 3 | 388 | 45 | 11.6% | 31.4% |
| Week 4 | 343 | 38 | 11.1% | 38.8% |
Weekly sell-through uses stock on hand at the start of each week as the denominator, so it climbs even as unit sales taper — this is the denominator trap.
Reading the number correctly
Two ways to calculate sell-through — and why they disagree
The same sales data produces different sell-through percentages depending on the denominator. Know which one you're looking at before you react to it.
Weekly (period) sell-through
Denominator: stock on hand at period start
This week's units sold ÷ units available at the start of the week. Naturally rises as stock depletes even with flat demand — useful for spotting velocity changes, misleading as a standalone trend line.
What a 'good' rate means
Treat ranges as targets, not proof
Common planning targets run roughly 40-50% by mid-season and 80%+ by season end for many apparel-style categories, but these are starting points to validate against your own sell-through history, not published benchmark studies.
Typical sell-through ranges by category and season week
Use these as a starting point for target-setting discussions, then replace them with your own season history.
| Category | Mid-season target (weeks 4–7) | Late-season target (weeks 10–14) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast fashion apparel | 45% – 55% | 80% – 90% | Short windows; deep final clearance is normal |
| Boutique apparel | 40% – 50% | 75% – 85% | Smaller buys, fewer breaks, more carryover risk |
| Footwear | 35% – 45% | 70% – 80% | Size breaks can accelerate late-season clearance |
| Basics / replenishment | 30% – 40% | 60% – 75% | Longer selling period; slower pace is acceptable |
| Home goods / gifts | 35% – 45% | 65% – 75% | Seasonal spikes tied to holidays or events |
Directional ranges for planning conversations, not a sourced industry study. The fastest way to improve target-setting is to compare your actual season-end results against these ranges and adjust each class individually.
From sell-through to a markdown decision
Sell-through alone tells you how much has sold; weeks of supply tells you whether the rest will sell in time. Divide units remaining by your average weekly units sold to get weeks of supply, then compare that to the weeks left before your season exit date. When supply exceeds the runway, the fix is earlier or deeper price action — sell-through percentage is the input, weeks of supply is the trigger.
Keep planning
- Weeks of supply calculator
Turn remaining units and current velocity into a runway figure.
- Planned markdown calculator
Model sell-through per price period and see maintained margin outcomes.
- When to mark down inventory
Turning velocity signals into a decision date.
- Inventory turnover calculator
The broader efficiency metric sell-through feeds into.
Answers
Sell-through rate questions
Turn a sell-through pace into a full markdown plan
Set weekly sell-through targets per price period and compare the slow, planned, and fast cases for ending stock, cash recovered, and maintained margin.
Free, no sign-up, with CSV export and a shareable link. Pro ($29/mo) saves named season plans, imports inventory CSVs, and prints a decision memo.