Understanding your result
Sell-through is units sold divided by opening units plus receipts. Remaining units are a simple balance after sales. Both counts must refer to the same product or deliberately defined pool. The chart shows sold and remaining units without imposing a universal good-or-bad threshold.
For cost-based stock efficiency over a period, use the Inventory Turnover Calculator with matching inventory values and cost of goods sold.
The formula
Some reports use received units alone. Setting opening stock to zero reproduces that batch convention. This tool makes the denominator explicit so a period with carried stock is not accidentally compared with a new batch using a different definition. All quantities are whole physical units.
Worked example
For a new batch of 200 units with 150 sold, sell-through is 75% and 50 remain. If those same sales came from 100 opening units plus 200 receipts, sell-through is 50%, with 150 remaining. Changing the denominator changes the interpretation.
How to use this calculator
- Choose one product, batch, or clearly defined inventory pool and period.
- Enter opening stock and receipts, using zero opening stock for a new batch.
- Enter sales from that pool and review both percentage and remaining count.
Compare equal observation periods
A week-old batch and a three-month-old batch have had different selling time. Record the period alongside the result when comparing launches. Seasonality, promotions, price changes, and product life cycle may explain differences; the percentage alone does not identify a cause.
Keep returns and transfers consistent
The simple stock balance does not have separate fields for transfers, shrinkage, or returns. Reconcile the measured pool before entry. If returns make net sales negative or adjustments make units sold exceed availability, this model is not an appropriate reconciliation tool; it rejects those states instead of presenting a misleading percentage.
Sell-through is different from turnover and margin
Sell-through compares unit sales with a defined supply of units. Turnover commonly compares cost of goods sold with average stock value, and margin compares profit with revenue. A high sell-through can still leave little profit if prices were heavily discounted. Review those measures separately rather than interpreting one rate as overall business performance.
Assumptions & limitations
What this calculation assumes
- Every unit in the pool has either been sold or remains; no other stock movements are modeled.
What to keep in mind
- No industry benchmark or target percentage is assumed.
Common questions
Why include opening stock?
It makes the available pool explicit for an ongoing period. Use zero opening stock for a received-batch definition.
Can the result exceed 100%?
Not for the closed pool modeled here. Sales above available stock indicate a scope mismatch, backorders, or unrecorded inventory movements that must be resolved first.