twelfth · Glossary · Stock and supply
Sell-through
Sell-through is the share of available stock that sold in a period: units sold divided by units available, usually tracked weekly or over a season.
What it means for retail and category teams
Available stock is typically opening stock plus receipts in the period. Sell-through is read against time: 40% after two weeks of a twelve-week season is strong, and 40% after ten weeks is a problem. Fashion and seasonal teams track it by style, colour and size, because a line can sell well overall while some sizes run out and others sit.
Why it matters
Sell-through is one of the earliest reliable signals that a buy was right or wrong, well before the season's margin is known. It helps teams back winners, time markdowns on slow lines, and improve availability between stores. It also answers a different question from units sold: 40 units sold out of 50 and 40 out of 400 are very different results.
Illustrative example
The business and figures are illustrative, not customer data
A retailer receives 400 units of a knit style at the start of autumn. After three weeks, 120 have sold: 30% sell-through against a plan of 25%. By size, small and medium are well ahead while extra-large has barely sold. The team backs the stronger sizes while the opportunity is open, and shifts extra-large stock to the stores where it sells.
Related terms
Related on twelfth.ai
- twelfth for fashion & apparel
Sell-through by size and option, markdown candidates ranked by the cost of waiting, and a record the next range review can use.