Comparable Store Sales

By using the same sale store concept or metric, management can analyze the performance of the store. By using this metric, management can analyze the growth of a store, whether the sale of the store has increased in comparison to the last period. Whether that store has attracted new customers or existing customers purchased more products. Also, management can identify the reason for the declined sales of a store. By using this metric, management would be able to make the decision to open a new store in a new location. Once analysts look at the gross number, they look at the percentage increase or decrease. The calculation for our example retail chain would be ​$2 million​ divided by ​$2.4 million​, showing an increase in sales of 20 percent.

The like-for-like sales number indicates the growth or decline in revenue of products or stores with similar characteristics and historical sales periods of operation. Typically, stores with less than one year of sales history are excluded from comparable store sales calculations. For example, a company ABC Inc. is a manufacturing company, and it has ten outlets throughout the state. The management wants to evaluate the performance of its two oldest outlets, ‘P’ & ‘Q,’ through evaluating the sales booked in February & March. On the other hand, a negative same-store sales figure means that the company generated fewer sales per store – an indicator of deteriorating customer demand.

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Retail Store means a building or part of a building in which goods, wares, merchandise, substances, articles or things are offered or kept for retail sale to the public. If this measure returns 0 or BLANK for a store, I can assume that store was not open last year. There are alternatives of course, and I may delve into those in a future post. The offers that appear in this table are from partnerships from which Investopedia receives compensation.

Adjusted Gross Revenues means the total of amount of cash and property, except nonredeemable credits, received from games at the taxpaying casino, less the amount of cash, cash equivalents, credits and prizes paid to patrons of the games. Adjusted gross receipts means the gross receipts less winnings paid to wagerers. Our experts channel your business-critical data to generate insights and drive outcomes throughout your organization. Indeed is not a career or legal advisor and does not guarantee job interviews or offers. In this career advice video, learn how to create an elevator pitch for a networking event or interview that tells a compelling story about who you are and where you are going in your career in under two minutes. Retained earnings are a firm’s cumulative net earnings or profit after accounting for dividends.

How Do I Calculate Same Store Sales?

The percentage change in sales shows the increase or decrease in the total sales recorded by the outlet in the current. As shown in the example above, although Domino’s Pizza reported positive same-store sales, that alone does not necessarily indicate that the company is doing well. The ratio must be compared to a benchmark or analyst expectations. If analysts expect same-store sales for a company to increase 15%, but the company only delivered 5%, it would indicate a weak-performing company.

• An increase in comparable store sales could be interpreted to mean that the retailer is effective in retaining its customers and might be better off focusing on its existing locations and worrying less about expansion.
• For example, a same-store sales figure of 7% indicates that total dollar revenues at a retail chain’s existing locations increased by 7% over the same given time period from the previous year.
• A reliable management team would acknowledge poor same-store sales growth, identify the reason for the weakness and decide whether to close stores or make changes to the business to increase popularity.
• Retail operations however, tend to manage in weekly time buckets which correspond to consumer shopping cycles.
• He has authored books on technical analysis and foreign exchange trading published by John Wiley and Sons and served as a guest expert on CNBC, BloombergTV, Forbes, and Reuters among other financial media.

Finally, divide the absolute dollar change in comparable store sales by the total comparable store revenues in 2017. This amount, expressed as a percentage, shows the change in comparable store sales. The same sale store metric is useful for management for making decisions regarding the continuation of existing retail stores and opening new retail stores.

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If comparable store sales are up from a previous period, it is a sign that the retail company is moving in the right direction. An increase in comparable store sales could be interpreted to mean that the retailer is effective in retaining its customers and might be better off focusing on its existing locations and worrying less about expansion. Sustained negative same-store sales over several quarters or even years may be an indicator that the retailer is in trouble. The same sale store is an essential concept for retail chain stores.

Return on sales is a financial ratio used to evaluate a company’s operational efficiency. Organic sales are revenues generated from the firm’s existing operations as opposed to acquired operations. Same-store sales are also referred to as comparable-store sales, SSS or identical-store sales. Comparable store sales, or “comps,” are also referred to as “same-store sales” or “identical-store sales.” Here we discuss formula to calculate same-store sales along with the practical example and interpretation.

Same Store

This is a number often reported on a retail chain’s annual report or quarterly earnings calls. Same-store sales may also indicate the effectiveness of management within a specific location. The company may evaluate how successful certain managers are in generating revenue growth from existing assets. They may use this to investigate opportunities for improvement in stores that are struggling, and they may begin by understanding what works well in other stores.

For example, sales at new stores (which don’t have a previous history) might all be positive, while the chain’s older stores might be losing sales. So, the company made a profit from new stores, while same-store sales were down. You won’t have to do these calculations yourself, but if you’re wondering how they are determined, a review of the same-store sales growth formula will help you understand how it’s done. You should also understand why these figures are important for investors. However, the owner also wants to evaluate the success of the newer store.

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Moreover, same-store sales figures may say something about the quality of management and the underlying finances of the company. For instance, the company may have taken on debt to finance the new store openings, deteriorating the quality of its financial position.

That’s why so many companies rely on same-store sales as a metric for success. They continue the calculation by subtracting one for a total of 0.25.

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Tracking business and financial metrics allows retail companies to evaluate their performance. It’s important for them to understand where they generate the most sales, such as through e-commerce channels or from retail storefronts. One important metric to analyze sales trends as related to individual sales performance is same-store sales. In this article, we define what same-store sales is, explain why it’s important, outline the steps for calculating this metric and provide examples for you to consider.

By tracking revenue increases for retail locations that have been open for a year or more, the same-store sales figure allows companies and investors to compare the performance of established stores over time. Comparable store sales is a metric commonly referred to as “same-store” sales by others within the retail industry. The method of calculating comparable store sales may vary across the industry.

Determine The Time Period

Same-store sales are widely reported by publicly owned retail chains as a key element of their operational results. For chains that are growing quickly by opening new outlets, same store sales figures allow analysts to differentiate between revenue growth that comes from new stores, and growth from improved operations at existing outlets. Same-store sales figures are important points of analysis for the management of a retail chain and for investors evaluating the chain’s current and likely future performance. Market analysts frequently use same-store sales to determine the effectiveness of the management of a retail chain in producing revenue growth from existing assets. By comparing sales across different periods, company management and investors can determine how well a retail store is doing. Comparable store sales not only provide a picture of how specific locations are performing, they can also tell a story about how a retailer is performing as a whole. A negative number shows declining same-store sales, while a positive number shows increasing same-store sales.

Here is what I’m trying to do… Each store in my list has a start date. I want to use the stores start date to determine if it should be included in the same store calculation or not. Y/Y SSS calculation regardless if there are sales for that store this year or last for the specific date range I’m looking at . The other twist to my SSS calculation is the store must be open for at least 15 months before it is included in my SSS Total.

Calculating Comp Store Growth

This example shows how you would calculate the change in comparable store sales from one year to the previous year. Analysts use comparable store sales as a measure of sales growth to evaluate how established stores have performed over time compared to new stores. In fact, investors and analysts often keep a close eye on same-store sales due to it being a strong predictor of the health of retail operations and future success of a company. For analysts, same-store sales for retail companies often holds as much importance as the revenue and earnings numbers. Same-store sales, also known as comparable-store sales, is a financial metric commonly used by companies in the retail industry to evaluate the performance of existing stores. If you own stock in a retail chain, or are thinking of investing in one, you’ll want to take a look at the company’s same-store sales for one or more quarterly or annual periods.

In 2020, they recorded $125,000 in sales, and, in 2019, they recorded $100,000 in sales. Comparable Store Sales Growthmeans the Company’s or a division’s same store net sales growth for the Fiscal Year in excess of the prior year, or for the Performance Period in the Committee’s sole discretion.

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Once calculated, you can express same-store sales as a percentage. This percentage represents how much the revenue changed between the different periods. For example, a same-store sales of 15% would indicate a store’s total dollar revenue increased by 15% from the previous year. Comparable store sales are typically expressed as a percentage of an increase or decrease in revenue.