Full Price Sell Through: Why Range Width Is Not Stock Depth
It is the Monday after week six of a hoodie launch. The range is twelve options wide, the best sellers are running low in the popular sizes, and the markdown calendar is already being pencilled in for the options that have barely moved. The obvious reaction is to cut the range, but the real question is whether the problem is how many options you carry or how many units you put behind each one. Full price sell through is where that question shows up in numbers, and it is usually a depth problem before it is a width problem.
Width is the count of options on the floor or site. Depth is the number of units bought per option. A wide range with sensible depth gives customers choice and gives you inexpensive information. A narrow range with heavy depth on the wrong options keeps the markdown exposure and loses the choice. Treat them as separate decisions with separate rules and review dates.
The sections that follow define the measures, set out four moves in order, and run an illustrative before and after on a twelve-option hoodie range.
What Full Price Sell Through Measures and How to Calculate It
Full price sell through is the share of the stock you received that was sold at full price, over a stated period. The formula is units sold at full price divided by units received (or available to sell) over the same period, multiplied by 100. Definitions vary by retailer, so write down which denominator your business uses before comparing anything. Some teams use units received, others opening stock plus receipts, others value.
The companion measure is markdown rate. A common unit version is units sold below full price divided by total units sold, and a value version is markdown value divided by net sales. Pick one, define it in the trading pack and keep it fixed through the season. The table sets out both.
The two KPIs defined
| KPI | Formula | Choice to make explicit | Common trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full price sell through | Units sold at full price divided by units received (or available), over the same window, times 100 | Denominator: received, or opening stock plus receipts. Unit or value basis. | Quoting it without a window. A week-four figure and a week-twelve figure are different measures. |
| Markdown rate | Units sold below full price divided by total units sold (unit basis); or markdown value divided by net sales (value basis) | Unit or value basis; whether promotions and staff discounts count as markdown. | Mixing unit and value versions across weeks, so the trend appears to move when the definition changed. |
Definitions vary by retailer. Confirm the denominator and window your own trading team uses before benchmarking an option or a supplier.
Always state the number of weeks on sale and the denominator, for example full price sell through at week eight on units received.
How to Improve Full Price Sell Through: Four Moves in Order
Most ways of lifting the number cost either sales or margin. The sequence below keeps the range intact and works on what the buyer controls directly: what you keep, how deep you buy, and when you launch.
Four moves that protect range width
- 1Review weak optionsCompare options on availability-adjusted rate of sale, not on raw units, and decide fix, reduce depth or exit.
- 2Protect core winnersHold capacity and materials for proven options so a stockout does not cap your full price units.
- 3Test newness smallGive uncertain options a lower first depth with a read date and a decision rule agreed before launch.
- 4Align timing and priceLaunch when the customer needs the product, and make sure each option has a clear job in the price ladder.
A sequence for the buying team to run each season. Thresholds and read dates are set by the buyer for the programme.
The order matters: reviewing weak options gives clean evidence, protecting core winners recovers the easiest lost sales, and the last two moves look forward using what the first two reveal.
Review Low-Productivity Options Before You Cut Anything
Low productivity means an option is taking up a slot, and some stock, without earning its place. Before removing it, find out why it is slow: the product may be wrong, or it may be priced awkwardly, launched late, bought too deep or out of stock in the sizes that matter. Only the first is a reason to exit the style.
Use a rate-based measure. Full price units sold per week on sale, adjusted for the weeks the option was actually available, is far fairer than raw units. A related guide, which hoodie colours to repeat, reduce or discontinue, shows how raw units mislead when availability differs between colours.
Diagnosing a slow option
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check | Typical action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low sales, stock still full | Weak product appeal, or priced above its perceived value | Page views or footfall against conversion; price compared with neighbouring options | Reduce future depth; test a price or presentation change before exiting |
| Low sales, key sizes missing | Availability problem, often a size curve issue | Size-level sell through and weeks without stock in the core sizes | Fix the size split; re-read demand once availability is restored |
| Good sales, high returns | Fit, quality or description mismatch | Returns by size and reason code | Fix the cause before adding depth; see the returns guidance in our fit and shrinkage guide |
| Similar to a stronger option | Cannibalisation within the range | Same price, same function, same colour family as a winner | Merge, differentiate the price or role, or exit the weaker twin |
A diagnostic framework, not a benchmark. Thresholds for what counts as slow are set by the buyer from the programme plan.
Exit only options that stay weak after availability, price and presentation are fixed.
Protect Core Winners With Replenishment
Every unit of a winning option you cannot supply is a full price sale you did not make, and the shortfall is hidden because sales simply stop. Protecting core winners means planning the ability to repeat before the first purchase order.
Plan the repeat before you launch
Three things decide whether a repeat can arrive in time: whether the fabric and trims are booked or can be reserved, whether production capacity is available at the factory, and how long the total replenishment cycle takes from decision to shelf. Our guide to clothing production lead times explains how the pieces add up.
Set a reorder trigger in advance
A reorder trigger is the stock position at which the repeat order must be placed so that new stock lands before the current stock runs out. In its simplest form, reorder when weeks of cover falls to the replenishment lead time plus a safety margin for demand variation. The full method, including pipeline stock and scenarios, is in our guide to the reorder point formula.
Pair the trigger with a size-level view, because an option can show healthy cover in total and still be out of the sizes that sell fastest. The linked piece on reducing hoodie overstock without losing bestseller sales covers the balance between core availability and fashion depth.
Test Newness at a Lower Initial Depth
New options carry the least evidence and, if bought at the same depth as proven ones, the most markdown risk. A lower first depth does not reduce the range; it lowers the cost of being wrong. The trade-off is that a winner can sell out before a repeat arrives, so this move only works with the repeat plan from move two in place.
Depth rules by role in the range
| Role | Evidence available | Depth stance | Replenishment stance | Read and decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core (proven) | Previous seasons of sales, returns and size data | Deepest; sized from run rate and cover | Trigger set in advance; capacity and materials reserved | Weekly cover and availability checks |
| Seasonal (partly proven) | Similar silhouette or fabric sold before, new colour or detail | Moderate; sized below core | Repeat only if the option beats its rule at the read date | Read at an agreed week; keep, repeat or run down |
| Newness (unproven) | Design intent and sample feedback only | Lowest practical depth the factory can support | Capacity and materials held for a possible repeat | Decision gate with thresholds set by the buyer before launch |
A planning framework. Absolute depths and thresholds depend on the programme, the channel and the factory.
The right test quantity is a commercial and technical decision. The test-and-scale model proposes around 500 pieces per style and colour as a test quantity where commercially and technically feasible, but that figure varies with fabric, dye, trims and factory, and the model reduces risk rather than removing it. The mechanics are explained in test and scale clothing manufacturing and, from the buyer side, in how to test a new style without a large order.
Whatever the quantity, agree the success criteria before the purchase order: the sell through threshold, the read date, the minimum availability that must be maintained for the read to be valid, and what you will do on each outcome.
Align Launch Timing and Price Architecture
Two further levers sit outside the stock decision. Launch timing decides how many full price weeks an option gets, and price architecture decides whether the options in the range compete with each other or complement each other. Both change full price sell through without touching range width.
Launch timing
A heavyweight hoodie landing late in the cold season has fewer full price weeks than one landing early. Work back from the date the customer starts to buy, then add transit and processing time. Compare options on full price weeks on sale rather than calendar dates.
An illustrative launch calendar for a seasonal hoodie option
- Before the orderSuccess criteria, depth, read date, reserved capacity and repeat lead time agreed in writing.
- Launch to early weeksTrack availability by size and rate of sale; fix any presentation or size-curve problem quickly.
- Read dateCompare full price sell through and returns with the agreed thresholds; decide repeat, hold or run down.
- Repeat windowPlace the repeat only if stock will land with enough full price weeks left to sell it.
- Run-downPlan the markdown start and depth in advance for options not repeating, so decisions are not made under pressure.
A template to be re-timed for each programme, channel and factory. Week numbers are deliberately not given.
Price architecture
Price architecture means the ladder of price points in the range and the job each option does on it. Options that share a price, silhouette and colour family split the same demand, so one looks weak next to a stronger twin. A clear ladder gives each option a role, such as entry, core or premium, with a visible reason for each step. Margin and price-point rules are set out in our guide to pricing clothing for wholesale and retail.
Worked Illustration: Same 12 Hoodie Options, Smaller First Buy
The example below is illustrative and hypothetical, not a benchmark, market data or a typical result. It holds the range at twelve options in both cases and changes only the first-buy depth, to show how the arithmetic behaves.
Illustrative assumptions
| Input | Assumed value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Range | 12 hoodie options: 3 core, 5 seasonal, 4 newness | Same options in both cases |
| Full price demand per option over the window | Core 1,000; seasonal 450; newness 700 (one option) and 200 (three options) | Assumed and identical in both cases. In real life you do not know this in advance, which is the point of sizing depth by evidence |
| Case A: before | 1,000 units per option, 12,000 units in total | Even depth across all options |
| Case B: after | Core 1,200; seasonal 600; newness 500; 8,600 units in first buy | Plus a repeat of 200 units on the newness winner, from reserved capacity, assumed to sell fully |
| Full price, landed cost, markdown price | GBP 60 (ex VAT), GBP 24, GBP 20 | Hypothetical. Unsold units are assumed to clear at the markdown price; no holding cost modelled |
All inputs are assumed for illustration. Replace them with your own demand, prices and costs.
Each option sells the lower of its demand and its stock, so the unsold units sit mainly in the seasonal and newness tiers.
Results by tier (units at full price, illustrative)
| Tier (options) | Case A bought | Case A sold | Case A unsold | Case B bought | Case B sold | Case B unsold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core (3) | 3,000 | 3,000 | 0 | 3,600 | 3,000 | 600 |
| Seasonal (5) | 5,000 | 2,250 | 2,750 | 3,000 | 2,250 | 750 |
| Newness (4) | 4,000 | 1,300 | 2,700 | 2,000 + 200 repeat | 1,300 | 900 |
| Total | 12,000 | 6,550 | 5,450 | 8,800 | 6,550 | 2,250 |
Case B newness: 500 units per option bought first, with 200 added to the winner whose assumed demand is 700, giving 2,200 units in total. Illustrative arithmetic only.
Full price units are identical at 6,550 in both cases, so full price revenue does not change. What changes is the stock bought to deliver it: 12,000 units in Case A against 8,800 in Case B, a reduction of 3,200 units in total. The first buy alone is 8,600 units, 28 per cent below Case A, and the repeat is placed only after the read date. Full price sell through on units received is 55 per cent in Case A and 74 per cent in Case B, using the received-units denominator and the full window.
Units unsold at full price after the window, by tier (illustrative)
Units, lower is better
Illustrative output of the assumptions table. A is the even 1,000-unit buy; B is the tiered buy. Unsold units are the markdown exposure.
The next table converts the units into markdown rate and gross profit under the assumed prices.
Financial view (illustrative, GBP, ex VAT)
| Measure | Case A: even depth | Case B: tiered depth |
|---|---|---|
| Units bought | 12,000 | 8,800 |
| Full price units sold | 6,550 | 6,550 |
| Markdown units cleared at 20 | 5,450 (109,000) | 2,250 (45,000) |
| Total revenue | 502,000 | 438,000 |
| Landed cost of units bought (x 24) | 288,000 | 211,200 |
| Gross profit | 214,000 | 226,800 |
| Full price sell through (units received) | 54.6 per cent | 74.4 per cent |
| Markdown rate (unit basis) | 45.4 per cent | 25.6 per cent |
| Cash committed to stock (at landed cost) | 288,000 | 211,200 |
Illustrative. Gross profit here is total revenue less landed cost of units bought. Gross margin would use gross profit divided by revenue excluding VAT.
Case B earns GBP 12,800 more gross profit only because the extra 3,200 units in Case A clear at GBP 20, below the assumed landed cost of GBP 24. The break-even markdown price is exactly the landed cost: if unsold units cleared at GBP 24 the two cases would earn the same gross profit, and above that the deeper buy would look better on profit, though it would still tie up GBP 76,800 more in stock and bring a higher markdown rate. The shallower first buy is strongest where markdowns clear at or below cost or cash is tight.
Case B also depends on two things holding. The repeat of 200 units must arrive while there are still full price weeks left, and the tiering must be right. If a newness option marked down as a 200-unit seller turned out to have demand of 700, its depth of 500 would cap full price sales until a repeat landed, which is the cost of testing small and the reason capacity has to be reserved first.
What Would Change the Decision, and Which KPI to Monitor
The tiered approach is a default, not a rule. If core options stock out repeatedly with strong demand, raise core depth and the repeat allowance. If a newness option clears its threshold early, move it to seasonal and release the repeat. If returns on a strong seller are high, fix the cause before adding any depth. And if the supplier cannot hold capacity for a repeat, the lower first depth loses its safety net.
Monitor full price sell through and markdown rate by option and tier, with weeks of cover and availability alongside so the figures can be read correctly.
A monthly range review checklist
- Full price sell through by option and tier, on the agreed denominator and window
- Markdown rate on one defined basis, compared with plan and last season on the same basis
- Weeks of cover and availability by size for every core option
- Returns by size and reason for the top sellers and the slowest options
- Repeat decisions against the triggers agreed before launch, with supplier capacity confirmed
- Run-down and markdown start dates agreed for options not repeating
Adapt the list and thresholds to your own trading calendar and systems.
For range-level planning, such as how many options and what share of sales each tier should carry, see how to build a GBP 5m hoodie range. If you are looking at the wider question of cutting speculative volume, the guide to reducing overproduction without reducing sales goes further.
Common Mistakes When Trying to Lift Full Price Sell Through
- Treating a low rate of sale as weak demand when the option was out of stock in key sizes.
- Quoting full price sell through without a window or denominator, then comparing it with a figure on a different basis.
- Cutting the range to improve the percentage, while the real cause was uniform depth across options with very different evidence.
- Testing small without reserving capacity or materials, so a winner sells out and cannot be repeated in time.
- Adding depth to a strong seller before checking its returns, which can scale a fit or quality problem.
Taking one live hoodie option from your current range, can you state its full price sell through, its weeks on sale and its availability today, and what decision that evidence would trigger at the next read date?
How Ruhrose Approaches Smaller First Buys
Ruhrose develops hoodies, fleece, jersey, denim and woven casualwear for UK buyers, with development and production in Bangladesh. For a range-depth conversation we work from the sample stage: confirming fabric and trim availability, what a test quantity is feasible for each style and colour, and what capacity can be discussed for a repeat if an option performs. Sampling comes before bulk, and quantities, prices and timings are agreed per programme rather than assumed. The wider approach is described in our guide to test and scale clothing manufacturing.