What it does. Turns a sell-through report — the weekly table every retailer produces — into three decisions per style: reorder, hold, mark down. The report is data; the method is the reading.
Inputs. Per style (or option): units received, units sold this week and to date, units on hand, weeks on sale (week of life), current price and any markdown taken. Ideally also: the category's sell-through target by week and the season's end date.
Steps.
1. ST% to date = sold to date ÷ received. Full-price ST% separately if markdown units can be split out.
2. WOC = units on hand ÷ average weekly sales over the last 3–4 weeks — not the lifetime average, which hides a slowdown.
3. Place the style on the week-of-life curve: compare its ST% with what the category expects at this week (for example 50% by week 8 in a 16-week season). Ahead, on track, behind.
4. Compare WOC with the weeks remaining in the season. WOC below the remaining weeks — stock runs out before the season ends; WOC above — stock outlives the season.
5. Decide. AHEAD + WOC short → reorder, if lead time allows; otherwise protect the best sizes. ON TRACK → hold; check sizes and stores. BEHIND + WOC long → mark down early; set the depth from how far behind, not from how much stock. BEHIND + WOC short (rare) → sells slowly but will clear: hold, do not reorder.
6. Write one line per style: the decision and the number that drove it. A decision without its number is a preference, not a call.
Common errors. Reading ST% without week of life. Using lifetime average sales for WOC after a slowdown. Reordering on total ST% when only one size sells — check the size curve first. Marking down late "to give it one more week": the week costs more than the markdown.
What a good output looks like. A table with the columns above and a decision column, then three sentences on the range as a whole: where the money is stuck, where it is running out, what the buy got wrong. The reader should be able to act without opening the raw report.