Apparel Retail inventory turnover.
Seasonal collections and markdown cycles keep stock on the floor roughly 90 days.
Where the 4.0x median comes from
The 4.0x figure is the cross-firm median for apparel retail as of 2026-06-20, derived from the NYU Stern working-capital dataset maintained by Aswath Damodaran. Top-quartile operators in this category clear 6.2x; the bottom quartile sits at 2.8x.
At the median, average inventory equals roughly 91 days of cost of goods sold. A business under bank-covenant review should compare its trailing-twelve-month ratio against this median first, then against the 6.2x top-quartile mark before setting a working-capital target.
Benchmark band
The band below plots a hypothetical 4.0x ratio against the industry axis. Colour bands flag whether a result is within fifteen percent of the median (caution), above it (healthy), or more than fifteen percent below it (risk).
Five-year trend
The apparel retail median has moved from 3.7x in the earliest comparable year to 4.0x in the latest pull, a gradual lift of 0.3 turns.
How to use this number
- Pull trailing-twelve-month COGS and the matching average inventory balance from the GL.
- Compute your turnover with the calculator on the homepage. Select the Apparel Retail benchmark.
- If your ratio is below 4.0x by more than fifteen percent, start the playbook at diagnose low turnover.
- If you sit above 6.2x, confirm stock-out frequency before declaring victory. See high vs low turnover.