# Sell-through calculator

See what share of the units made available in a period actually sold. Sell-through is most useful with the selling window beside it: 30% early in a season tells a different story from 30% near its end.

Formula: Sell-through = units sold ÷ (opening stock + receipts) × 100.

Example: Units sold in the period 120; Opening stock 300; Units received in the period 100.
Result: Sell-through 30.0%.

## How to calculate it

1. Choose one product, group or cohort and one clear selling period.
2. Add opening units and receipts in that period to find the units available for sale.
3. Divide units sold by available units and multiply by 100. Then compare the pace with elapsed time and remaining stock by store or size.

## The same 30% can mean two different things

A seasonal line opened with 300 units, received 100 more and sold 120. Sell-through is 120 ÷ (300 + 100) × 100 = 30%. That leaves 280 units from this simple unit flow before other adjustments.

In week two of a twelve-week season, 30% may be a healthy start. In week ten, it points to a likely exit problem. Check which sizes and stores hold the remaining units before marking down the whole line.

## Check before acting

- Take units sold, opening stock and receipts from the same period.
- A strong chain-wide rate can hide a slow size, colour or store cluster.

## Questions

### What is the denominator in sell-through?

This calculator uses opening stock plus receipts during the period: the units available to sell. Other reporting conventions exist, so keep the definition consistent when comparing periods.

### How is sell-through different from sell-in?

Sell-in is stock sold by a supplier into a retailer. Sell-through is stock sold onward to shoppers as a share of the units available to sell during the period.

### Is a 30% sell-through good?

It depends on how much of the selling period has passed, the line's role and the remaining stock. Compare the rate with all three.

### Should I markdown a low sell-through line?

First check availability, store and size mix, season timing, and whether the price cut would leave acceptable unit margin. A markdown is one possible action.

[Use the interactive calculator](https://twelfth.ai/tools/sell-through).
[Download the sell-through CSV template](https://twelfth.ai/resources/retail-csv/sell-through.csv).
[Download the eight-tab workbook](https://twelfth.ai/resources/retail-metrics-template.xlsx).
[Read the sell-through glossary definition](https://twelfth.ai/glossary/sell-through).
Related calculators: [Retail markdown calculator](https://twelfth.ai/tools/markdown), [GMROI calculator for retail inventory](https://twelfth.ai/tools/gmroi).
Source: https://twelfth.ai/tools/sell-through