One number is a photograph, the other is a film. Stock on hand tells you what you own today. Turnover tells you whether owning it is working.
Stock on hand: the photograph
Stock on hand is a count at a moment in time, per variant. It has a cost value, which is capital, and it has an age, which is risk. In fashion the age matters more than in most categories, because a garment loses value on a calendar rather than through wear: the same shirt is full price in March and 50% off in July.
Turnover: the formula
Turnover is units sold divided by average stock on hand for the same period.
| Units sold | Average stock | Turnover | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basics | 800 | 200 | 4.0 |
| Seasonal outerwear | 300 | 250 | 1.2 |
| Occasion wear | 120 | 200 | 0.6 |
Basics at 4.0 are earning their shelf. Outerwear at 1.2 is normal for a category that sells in a short window. Occasion wear below 1 is capital that has been sitting still for longer than a season, and it will end in a markdown.
There is no universal target. What is useful is the trend for the same category against the same period last year, because that comparison holds the seasonality constant.
Slow movers and markdowns
A slow mover found in week six can be moved with a small discount, a window change, or a transfer to a shop where the size profile fits. The same unit found in week twenty needs a markdown deep enough to hurt. This is why turnover is worth reading per variant and mid-season: the style average hides the two sizes that stopped moving in the first month.
How Agilo handles it
Agilo holds stock per variant, updated when a load is closed and kept in step with connected sales channels, so the figure you divide by is the real one rather than a spreadsheet that was last reconciled at inventory time. The Sell-In report puts purchases and cost values next to what has moved, filtered by brand, season and category, which is the comparison that shows which part of the buy is turning and which part is standing still.