How many days of stock do we hold?
№ 116 · Inventory days / weeks of cover
Definition
MetricDays inventory outstanding
Unitdays of stock on hand at cost
Single line of average inventory divided by daily or weekly COGS. 30 to 60 days is typical for retail. Build from inventory value divided by daily/weekly run rate. Trending up = overstock signal; down = stockout risk. Example: 65 days on hand, 9.3 weeks cover.
- COGS
- Cost of goods sold. Direct costs of delivering the product: hosting, payment fees, support, materials and freight.
Benchmarks
| Bottom 30% | Median | Top 30% |
|---|---|---|
| 90 days or more | 58 to 65 days | 45 days or fewer |
Specialty and general merchandise physical retail excluding grocery, DIO = 365 divided by (annual COGS over average inventory at cost), 2024 to mid 2026, US anchored · Two measurement bases are in circulation and they are not interchangeable. The Census inventories to sales ratio is at retail value against one month of sales, reading 1.28 in December 2025, which is roughly 39 days of cover at retail. DIO at cost, which is what a merchant plans against, runs materially higher because the denominator is COGS rather than sales. Convert deliberately or the two will look like a contradiction. Direction is lower_better only within a band: below roughly 30 days most non-grocery formats start breaking size runs and losing sales to stockouts, which the lost sales card quantifies. The chain-level aggregate is close to meaningless because turnover spans 1.3x in aftermarket auto parts to 20x in grocery, so this chart is only useful at category level, which is what card 120 is for. CSIMarket's 13x US retail sector aggregate is weighted toward grocery and discount and should not be used as a specialty benchmark.
| Category | Bottom 30% | Median | Top 30% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery and convenience | 30 days | 18 days | 12 days |
| Apparel and fashion | 90 days | 57 days | 40 days |
| Consumer electronics | 80 days | 55 days | 40 days |
| General merchandise and discount | 70 days | 52 days | 40 days |
| Home and furniture | 145 days | 100 days | 75 days |
| Jewellery and luxury | 240 days | 180 days | 120 days |
When it looks bad
The cover line drifts upward across consecutive months while sales stay flat, so the gap between the two curves is working capital quietly converting into future markdown.
Cover rises from 62 to 94 days over two quarters on flat sales, which at $18M inventory at cost is roughly $6M of additional cash tied up and a markdown liability that has not been booked yet.
What to do about it
- Plot cover against forward demand rather than trailing sales, because trailing cover flatters a business heading into a slow season and panics one heading into peak. Weeks of cover should be measured against the forecast for the weeks actually ahead.
- Convert rising cover into a booked markdown provision at the point the trend appears, not at season end. Aged stock is a cash problem before it is a margin problem, and even a well-run operator can carry very long positions: Revolve holds roughly 147 days and Nordstrom around 70 days with $1.78B tied up (Eightx on SEC filings, US Finance Calculators).
- Set the floor as well as the ceiling. Non-grocery formats that push below roughly 30 days start breaking size and colour runs, and the sales lost to those breaks typically exceed the carrying cost saved, which is why the lost sales rate card needs to be read against this one.
- Run cover at category level and stop reporting a chain aggregate. With turnover spanning 1.3x to 20x across retail sectors, a blended figure mixes a jewellery position that is healthy at 180 days with a grocery position that is failing at 30 (AisleStock, Retalon).
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau via FRED The seasonally adjusted retail inventories to sales ratio was 1.28 in December 2025, having sat between 1.28 and 1.29 across the preceding four months. fred.stlouisfed.org ↗
- U.S. Census Bureau The seasonally adjusted total business inventories to sales ratio at end of March 2026 was 1.32, against 1.38 in March 2025. census.gov ↗
- U.S. Census Bureau via FRED The ratio expresses end-of-month inventory against one month of sales, so a reading of 2.5 means two and a half months of merchandise on hand. fred.stlouisfed.org ↗
- AisleStock Turnover ranges from roughly 1.3x in aftermarket auto parts to 20x in grocery and convenience. CSIMarket puts the whole US retail sector near 13x on a cost-of-sales basis for the twelve months to Q2 2026, but that aggregate is weighted toward grocery and discount. Lowe's anchors at 3.3x. aislestock.com ↗
- Onramp Funds Fashion and apparel 6.0 to 12.0 turns (30 to 60 days), electronics 4.5 to 8.0 (45 to 80 days), home goods and furniture 2.5 to 5.0 (75 to 145 days), groceries 10 to 15. onrampfunds.com ↗
- Cleverence Directional day ranges: grocery and convenience 10 to 20 days, fast fashion and apparel 30 to 90 days depending on season, consumer electronics 30 to 70 days, industrial distribution and MRO 60 to 120 days. cleverence.com ↗
- Cleverence An apparel department with $4.2M COGS against $650k average inventory at cost turns 6.46x, equal to 57 days inventory outstanding. Apparel basics reach mid to high single digit turns while seasonal capsules often sit at low single digits. cleverence.com ↗
- US Finance Calculators Supermarkets 12 to 20x, general merchandise and discount 6 to 10x, clothing and apparel 4 to 8x, electronics 6 to 10x, furniture 3 to 6x, jewellery and luxury 1.5 to 3x. Nordstrom holds inventory an average of 70 days against $1.78B of tied-up capital. usfinancecalculators.com ↗
- DOSS Apparel and accessories 2 to 6x, general CPG 6 to 15x, distribution and wholesale 8 to 20x, with a turnover of 6 translating to roughly 61 days in inventory. doss.com ↗
- Retalon Average retail turnover sits around 9x. Baked goods 69.5x, fruit and vegetable markets 29.1x, convenience and gas 24 to 37x, grocery 15x, liquor 6.1x, supplements 4.9x, hobby and toy 3.5x, sporting goods 2.7x, accessories and jewellery 2 to 3x, musical instruments 2x. retalon.com ↗