Inventory glossary

What is Stock cover?

Stock cover is how many days or weeks your current stock will last at your expected sales rate.

Stock cover tells you whether you are about to run out or sitting on too much. A low number means you need to reorder soon. A high number means cash is tied up in stock that will take a while to sell.

Check stock cover per SKU, not just across your whole store. One product can have plenty of cover while another is about to run dry, and averaging them hides the problem.

Formula

Stock cover (days) = Stock on hand / Average daily sales

Example

A candle shop has 90 units of a scented candle in stock. It sells 6 units a day on average. Stock cover is 90 / 6 = 15 days. If the supplier's lead time is 10 days, the store needs to place a reorder soon to avoid a gap.

Common mistakes

  • Using total sales across all products instead of per SKU sales, which hides SKUs running low.
  • Ignoring seasonality, so a slow week makes cover look healthier than it really is once demand picks up.
  • Forgetting committed inventory, like pre-orders, which reduces what is actually available to cover future sales.

Stock cover and SteadyShelf

SteadyShelf calculates stock cover per variant from your sales history and compares it to each supplier's lead time to tell you when to order.

Work it out for your own products with our free tool: Days of stock calculator.

SteadyShelf is launching on the Shopify App Store. Join early access to get the install link first.

Related terms

Days of supply · Weeks of supply · Reorder point · Average daily sales · Safety stock

Full inventory glossary

FAQ

Is stock cover the same as days of supply?

Yes, stock cover and days of supply are different names for the same measure: how long your stock will last at current sales rates.

What is a good stock cover number?

It depends on your supplier's lead time. Stock cover should stay above your lead time plus a buffer, so you never run out while waiting for a new order to arrive.

Let SteadyShelf do this math for every SKU

Order-by dates per supplier, seasonal forecasts and draft POs for your Shopify store. $29/month after a 30-day free trial.

Get early access