Sell Through Rate Calculator: The Short Answer
A brand receives 1,000 hoodies and has sold 450 after six weeks. The sell through rate calculator divides units sold by units received: 450 over 1,000 is 45 per cent. Over six weeks that is a pace of 75 units a week, so the 550 hoodies still in stock represent about 7.3 weeks of cover if the pace holds. To reach an 80 per cent target the brand needs to sell 350 more, which at 75 a week would take about 4.7 further weeks. One calculation, four decisions: reorder, hold, promote or wait.
A sell through rate calculator gives a percentage, but the percentage is only useful with the time it took. 45 per cent in six weeks and 45 per cent in three weeks are very different stories, which the sections below show.
Use the Sell Through Rate Calculator
Enter the units you received, the units you have sold and the weeks the style has been on sale. Add a target sell-through if you have one, and the landed cost per unit if you want the stock left valued at cost. The sell through rate calculator returns the sell-through percentage, the weekly pace, the weeks of cover left, the units remaining and the units still needed for your target.
Sell through rate calculator
Sell-through, pace and cover
A simple model using your totals. It does not split full-price and discounted sales, which matter for margin, and it assumes a steady weekly pace.
Use the totals for one style, or one colour, in the sell through rate calculator, not the whole range, because the average hides the winners and losers. A bestseller and a slow mover can average out to a healthy-looking number that tells you nothing about either.
How Sell-Through Is Calculated
Sell-through is units sold divided by units received, as a percentage. Some retailers calculate it as units sold divided by the sum of units sold and units on hand, which gives the same answer when no stock has been added or removed in between. Use one definition consistently so that your numbers can be compared over time.
From units to decisions
- 1Count units receivedThe quantity put on sale, by style and colour.
- 2Count units soldNet of returns if you can, gross if not.
- 3DivideUnits sold ÷ units received × 100 = sell-through.
- 4Find the paceUnits sold ÷ weeks on sale.
- 5Work out the coverUnits left ÷ weekly pace.
- 6Compare with lead timeCover against the time a repeat order takes.
The last step is the one that matters most. If you have seven weeks of cover and a repeat order takes twelve weeks, you will run out before it arrives. Our guide to when to reorder a bestseller works through it.
Reading Sell-Through at Different Levels
The table shows what different numbers of units sold mean for a 1,000-unit receipt. The percentage is simple arithmetic, and what counts as good depends on the style, the season and your margin, so treat the table as a conversion, not a benchmark.
Sell-through for different units sold out of 1,000 received
| Units sold | Sell-through | Units left |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 25% | 750 |
| 450 | 45% | 550 |
| 600 | 60% | 400 |
| 800 | 80% | 200 |
| 950 | 95% | 50 |
Arithmetic: units sold ÷ 1,000. No benchmark is implied. What counts as good depends on the style, season and margin.
Compare a style with its own plan rather than with a general figure. A basic that sells steadily all year needs a different reading from a fashion style that has to clear in a season. Retail trade bodies such as the British Retail Consortium publish industry commentary, but your own sales history is the best benchmark.
The Same Sell-Through, Two Different Stories
Sell-through without time can mislead. The table compares two styles that have each sold 450 of 1,000 units, one in six weeks and one in three. Their sell-through is identical, and their situation is not.
Two styles at 45% sell-through
| Style | Units sold | Time on sale | Sell-through | Units a week | Weeks of cover left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Style A | 450 | 6 weeks | 45% | 75 | 7.3 weeks |
| Style B | 450 | 3 weeks | 45% | 150 | 3.7 weeks |
Arithmetic: 550 units left ÷ weekly pace. Illustrative figures; the pace is assumed to hold.
Style B is selling twice as fast and has half the cover, so it may need a reorder now, while Style A may need a promotion. A single percentage would have told you to treat them alike. Our guide to calculating when to reorder a bestselling hoodie uses the same logic.
What the Weekly Pace Means for Cover
Weeks of cover is the stock left divided by the weekly pace, and it moves a lot with the pace. The table holds the stock at 550 units and varies the weekly sales.
Weeks of cover on 550 units at different weekly paces
| Units sold per week | Weeks of cover |
|---|---|
| 50 | 11.0 |
| 75 | 7.3 |
| 100 | 5.5 |
| 150 | 3.7 |
Arithmetic: 550 ÷ weekly pace. Illustrative stock and paces.
Doubling the pace halves the cover. That is why a style can look safe one week and urgent the next after a promotion or a social post lifts demand. Recalculate each week for styles you may reorder. For the reading of trading data, see our guide to reading Monday trading reports for reorder decisions.
How the Example Splits Into Sold and Left
The pie shows the 1,000 units split into sold and still in stock. It looks simple, but it is the figure your cash is tied up in: the left slice is stock you have paid for and not yet recovered.
Share of 1,000 hoodies received that have sold after six weeks
- Sold (450)45%
- Still in stock (550)55%
Arithmetic: 450 ÷ 1,000 = 45 per cent sold. Illustrative figures.
At an illustrative £12.50 landed cost, the 550 unsold hoodies hold £6,875 of cash at cost. Our guide to improving full-price sell-through looks at moving them without discounting more than you need to.
Where the Pace Takes You
If a style keeps selling at its current weekly pace, sell-through climbs in a straight line. The chart shows the cumulative sell-through at 75 units a week for a 1,000-unit receipt, from week two to week twelve.
Cumulative sell-through of the example at a steady 75 units a week
Cumulative sell-through
Arithmetic: 75 × weeks ÷ 1,000. Assumes the pace never changes, which it usually does.
Real sales are lumpy, with launches, promotions and seasons bending the line, so treat the straight line as a baseline. If a style is well below it after a few weeks, something has changed, and that is the cue to find out why, ideally before the stock is deep in discount.
Actions at Different Sell-Through Positions
Sell-through is a trigger for action, not just a report. The right action depends on the combination of sell-through and cover, set against how long a reorder takes. A short checklist helps you decide.
What to check when you read sell-through
- Is it per style and colour, not an average across the range?
- Does it use full-price sales, or does it include discounts?
- How many weeks of cover remain at the current pace?
- How long does a repeat order take from placing to arrival?
- Is the pace steady, or did a promotion lift it temporarily?
- Which sizes are left, and does the ratio need correcting?
A general checklist. Industry bodies such as the Federation of Small Businesses publish guidance for small retailers.
When a style is slow, the markdown calculator shows what a discount costs in margin, and the size ratio calculator helps you correct the split on the next order.
Full-Price Sell-Through Versus Total Sell-Through
A style that sells 80 per cent after a deep discount is not the same as one that sells 80 per cent at full price. Total sell-through counts every unit sold, at whatever price, while full-price sell-through counts only those sold without a discount. The first tells you whether the stock has gone, the second whether it went at the margin you planned.
Run the sell through rate calculator twice for a style you suspect has been discounted, once on all sales and once on full-price sales. If the two numbers are far apart, the style is clearing through markdown, and the margin on it is lower than the cost sheet suggested. That is useful evidence for the next buying decision.
Reducing the Risk of Overbuying
Sell-through is the feedback loop for ordering. Brands that learn from it buy closer to demand next time, which cuts the unsold stock that eventually has to be cleared. Our guide to reducing overproduction without reducing sales describes how.
A smaller first run with a quick reorder is often safer than a large run on a hunch, provided the lead time lets you replenish. That depends on the factory, the fabric and the route, which is worth discussing before the first order.
How Ruhrose Helps You Plan Stock
Ruhrose develops hoodies, fleece, jersey, denim and woven casualwear for UK buyers, with production in Bangladesh. We sample before bulk, talk through first-run quantities and help you understand the time a repeat order takes, so sell-through data can feed a sensible reorder. Ruhrose's clothing manufacturing pages show what we make.
Before you reorder, ask yourself one question: will the stock last until the new order arrives?