What is out-of-stock rate?
On delivery apps, out-of-stock rate is the share of checks in which a product that a storefront lists cannot be ordered, and availability rate is the rest (100% minus the out-of-stock rate); Dashmote re-observes 15M+ delivery storefronts monthly. It separates a product that is missing for a day from one that was never listed, so you see store by store where you are not on the shelf.
The trusted intelligence layer for teams selling to Hospitality & Retail
The formula
Out-of-stock rate (%) = checks where a listed product is marked unavailable / all checks where the product is listed x 100
Availability rate (%) = 100 - out-of-stock rate
One check is one product on one storefront at one point in time. The denominator only counts checks where the product is listed, so an outlet that never sold it does not lower the number; that gap belongs to numeric distribution.
Usage varies between channels. In a supermarket, out-of-stock usually means an empty shelf found by an audit or a store's own scan data. On a delivery app it means the storefront shows the item but will not let the shopper order it. Quick commerce apps add a third version: the product is listed by the app but missing in the dark store that serves the shopper.
Worked example
Take a drinks brand in one city.
- One product, a 500 ml bottle, is listed on 200 storefronts. Three monthly checks give 600 checks.
- In 84 of them it was marked unavailable. Out-of-stock rate = 84 / 600 = 14%; availability rate = 86%.
- 60 of those 84 misses come from just 10 storefronts that were unavailable at 2+ checks. The other 24 are one-off gaps spread across the city.
The average hides the useful part. Ten storefronts with a repeating problem are a call list for the account or distributor team; one-off gaps are noise until they repeat.
Out of stock, delisted or never listed?
| State | What the shopper sees | What it usually means | Metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Out of stock | Item shown but greyed out or marked sold out | A supply or kitchen problem today | Out-of-stock rate |
| Delisted | Item gone from a menu that had it | The outlet dropped it, or hides items when they run out | Lost listings |
| Never listed | Item never on the menu | A distribution gap | Numeric distribution |
The middle row is the trap. Some apps keep unavailable items on the menu and mark them; others remove them until they are back. On those apps a short out-of-stock looks like a delisting. Time separates the two: if the item returns at the next check, treat it as a stock gap, not a lost listing.
How Dashmote data helps
Dashmote records each product's listing and, on apps that mark items unavailable, its availability at every refresh, per storefront. Brand teams see the out-of-stock rate by product, city and app, the storefronts with repeat misses, and the listings that disappeared. See listing and availability tracking for restaurant menus.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between out-of-stock rate and availability rate?
They are two sides of one number: availability rate is 100% minus the out-of-stock rate. Teams that report availability usually do so because a high number reads more naturally on a dashboard.
What is a good out-of-stock rate on delivery apps?
There is no universal benchmark; compare against your own history and a competitor in the same storefronts. More useful than the rate is how concentrated it is: a few storefronts with repeat misses can be fixed, a city-wide rise points at supply.
Why does my product show as out of stock when the outlet has it?
Because the outlet, not the app, switches items on and off. A kitchen under pressure may mark drinks unavailable to simplify service, or forget to switch them back on.
Is a disappeared item a delisting or an out-of-stock?
Wait for the next check. On apps that hide unavailable items, a product that comes back was out of stock; one that stays gone was delisted.
Does out-of-stock rate count storefronts that never listed my product?
No. Those are a distribution gap, measured by numeric distribution. Out-of-stock rate only counts storefronts that list the product.