Operations
sell-through rate
Term from the vending glossary
Share of stocked products that are actually sold within a defined period (usually per stocking cycle). High sell-through rate = well-matched assortment; low rate indicates wrong product selection or overstocking.
The sell-through rate is the ratio of sold quantity to stocked quantity. For durable goods, a low rate mainly represents tied-up capital; for fresh products, it is an immediate loss because remaining quantity is disposed of after expiry.
Therefore, the rate is the key metric for any fresh product assortment. It must be considered per location and per weekday—a weekly average hides exactly Mondays and Fridays, when the calculation breaks down. In practice, this leads to different stocking quantities per weekday, not to a different assortment.