KPI · Shrinkage
Inventory Loss Rate
Percentage of inventory lost to theft, damage, spoilage, or admin error.
Formula
(Book - Physical) / Book x 100
Benchmark
1.4-1.8% US retail average
→
ActionHow Ward worksHow Ward uses Shrinkage
Ward attributes shrinkage to cause categories and benchmarks each store.
✓
SolutionThe payoffFixes that move Shrinkage
The insight types that improve inventory loss rate when running on Ward.
Who tracks Shrinkage
The roles that lean on this metric to run their teams.
Other KPIs Ward monitors
Fill Rate
On-Shelf Availability
Percentage of expected SKUs physically present and available for purchase.
SSS
Same-Store Sales
Year-over-year revenue comparison for stores open 12+ months.
ATV
Average Transaction Value
Revenue per transaction. Measures basket size and upsell effectiveness.
UPT
Units Per Transaction
Average item count per basket. Key cross-sell and adjacency indicator.
GMROI
Gross Margin Return on Inventory
Gross profit per dollar invested in inventory.
ITR
Inventory Turnover Ratio
How many times inventory is sold and replaced in a period.
Promo Lift
Promotional Uplift
Incremental sales from a promotion vs baseline, net of cannibalization.
MD%
Markdown Rate
Revenue sold at discount vs original price.
NPS
Net Promoter Score
Customer loyalty metric. Promoters minus detractors.
CVR
Conversion Rate
Percentage of visitors who purchase.
BP
Basket Penetration
Percentage of baskets containing a specific category/SKU.
Two ways to start.
Run a fixed-fee pilot on your data, or talk to advisory about a broader engagement.
See what your stores are hiding.
Margin leaks, shrinkage patterns, promo misfires, the problems are in your data right now. Ward finds them and explains why. First insight cards in 48 hours.
Read-only to start · your LLM keys · SOC 2 Type II underway · or book a call directly
Find out what your data has been hiding.
Tell us about your operation. We’ll show you the problems Ward catches, and the ones your current tools miss.