Fashion retail analytics connects size-level sales with seasonal stock and realized prices. Use a worked apparel example to separate demand, availability and markdown effects, then check the stock and margin totals.
Fashion retail analytics explains which styles and sizes sell, how much seasonal inventory remains, and what markdowns cost in revenue and margin. Its useful unit is the style-color-size at a store during a defined selling period. A style total can look healthy while the sizes customers want have already sold out.
The merchant's questions are concrete: should the next receipt contain a different size mix, should stock move between stores, and should a seasonal style receive a price reduction? Answer each with the same sales and stock records, then add the detail the decision requires.
The broader retail analytics overview covers sales, stock and channel measures across merchandise categories. Fashion needs an additional view of collection age, size availability and the date after which leftover stock becomes harder to sell.
Keep product lifecycle labels explicit. A replenishable basic can tolerate a different stock position from a holiday collection. Compare their economics separately rather than applying one clearance rule to both. Record the person responsible for each decision alongside the review: merchandising owns the assortment, allocation owns store placement, and finance checks the margin basis.
Bring a sales export with transaction date, store, style, color, size, units, returns, actual revenue and merchandise cost. Add opening stock, receipts, transfers, adjustments and closing stock at the same product and store level. Keep a product reference with collection, launch date, regular ticket price and planned season end.
Use net revenue after merchandise refunds and allowances, excluding sales tax. That matches the relevant sales treatment in the Census Bureau's retail definitions. Keep returned units and their cost reversals aligned with the revenue treatment.
For the operating view below, available units mean opening stock plus receipts and net inbound transfers during the selling period. There are no transfers, returns or adjustments in this illustration. Real files need those movements recorded separately so a stock difference cannot silently become a sale.
Season-to-date sell-through = Net units sold / Units available during the period
Realized average selling price = Net merchandise revenue / Net units sold
Gross profit = Net merchandise revenue − Cost of units sold
State this sell-through definition in the report. A business that uses receipts alone as its denominator will produce a different rate whenever opening stock exists.
An illustrative US apparel retailer reviews its Larch dress in navy from launch through the current season review. Each unit has a regular ticket price of $100 and an inventory cost of $40. Markdown sales occur at $70, with no additional discounts or sales tax in revenue.
| Size | Available units | Full-price units sold | Markdown units sold | Total units sold | Closing units | Sell-through |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 60 | 36 | 12 | 48 | 12 | 80.0% |
| M | 100 | 70 | 20 | 90 | 10 | 90.0% |
| L | 100 | 80 | 15 | 95 | 5 | 95.0% |
| XL | 40 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 10 | 75.0% |
| Total | 300 | 200 | 63 | 263 | 37 | 87.7% |
For S, units sold are 36 + 12 = 48, and sell-through is 48 / 60 = 80.0%. The combined result is 263 / 300 = 87.7%; calculate it from totals rather than averaging the displayed rates. All percentages here are rounded to one decimal place after calculation.
L has the highest sell-through and the fewest units remaining. XL has lower sell-through and more of its sales at the reduced price. That combination warrants a size allocation review, but it does not prove that customers wanted fewer XL units everywhere. Check store-level availability, launch timing and returns before changing the next order.
Apply the stated prices and cost to those same sold units:
| Size | Revenue calculation (USD) | Revenue (USD) | Cost of sold units (USD) | Gross profit (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 36 × 100 + 12 × 70 | 4,440 | 1,920 | 2,520 |
| M | 70 × 100 + 20 × 70 | 8,400 | 3,600 | 4,800 |
| L | 80 × 100 + 15 × 70 | 9,050 | 3,800 | 5,250 |
| XL | 14 × 100 + 16 × 70 | 2,520 | 1,200 | 1,320 |
| Total | 200 × 100 + 63 × 70 | 24,410 | 10,520 | 13,890 |
Gross margin is 13,890 / 24,410 = 56.9%. The cost column uses units sold multiplied by $40; it does not expense the stock still on hand. The gross profit margin guide explains the accounting measure in more detail.
The sold units would have ticket value of 263 × 100 = $26,300. Actual revenue is $24,410, so the ticket-to-realized concession is 26,300 − 24,410 = $1,890, or 7.2% of that sold-unit ticket value. Meanwhile, markdown units represent 63 / 263 = 24.0% of sold units. These percentages answer different questions.
That concession is a description of actual transactions. It is not proof that $1,890 could have been earned without markdowns: some units might have remained unsold at the regular price. For deeper price comparisons, use pricing analytics in retail with an explicit comparison period and comparable products.
The unit check is 300 available − 263 sold = 37 closing units. The cost check is 300 × 40 = $12,000 of available inventory cost, which equals $10,520 sold cost plus 37 × 40 = $1,480 closing cost.
Use the inventory cost recorded under your company's policy. For purchased merchandise, IRS Publication 538 describes acquisition cost as the invoice amount after appropriate discounts plus transportation and other acquisition charges. A supplier's ticket price is not a substitute for that cost.
If the unit reconciliation fails, investigate transfer timing, returned goods, damaged units and stock adjustments before recommending a markdown. Then compare stores at the same elapsed season point. A late receipt should not make a store appear to have weaker demand than a location that had the full selling period.
After those checks, the review should end with an owner and a specific question: validate a size mix, investigate availability, or compare a proposed markdown with keeping the current price. Keep customer-level behavior in retail customer analytics, where the records and denominators differ.
Bring a sample of your own style-size sales and stock exports to Covirage; its tools compute and check sell-through, revenue, margin and stock balances after the columns are mapped. The external AI model explains the results with every figure traced to its rows. Create a free Covirage account, then set up your business and bring your file.
See sales insights for the supporting business context.
A size curve is the distribution of units across sizes for a defined product group. Compare the allocation curve with sales and availability before changing a buy. Sales shares alone understate demand for sizes that sold out early or were unavailable in important stores.
Use the same elapsed selling period, inventory scope and treatment of returns. Compare a new collection with prior collections at the same point after launch. Include replenishment in available units and separate carryover merchandise from products that must clear at season end.
A markdown reduces revenue per unit when other inputs stay fixed. It may help clear seasonal stock, but the benefit depends on additional sales, remaining inventory and the selling deadline. Compare net revenue and gross profit, and do not attribute all sales after a reduction to that reduction.