What will your product cost on a premium shelf?
A buyer prices backward from the department's margin target, not forward from your wholesale. Enter your number and see the shelf price that implies, and where it lands among the products already proving the trend.
Enter your wholesale price to see where it lands.
Gross margin = (retail − cost) ÷ retail. Markup = (retail − cost) ÷ cost. A 40% margin is a 1.67× markup; 50% is 2.0×; 57% is 2.33×. Stores that confuse the two price whole departments 10 points below target.
| 30% margin | 1.43× cost | |
| 35% margin | 1.54× cost | |
| 40% margin | 1.67× cost | |
| 45% margin | 1.82× cost | |
| 50% margin | 2.00× cost | |
| 55% margin | 2.22× cost | |
| 60% margin | 2.50× cost |
The department ranges are modeled targets from The Truth Behind Premium Grocery (Michael Penner, 2027), the operating playbook this site's editor wrote for premium grocers: center-store grocery 34–38%, organic produce 36–42%, wellness & supplements 46–52%, owned beverages / private label 46–54%, prepared foods 48–54%, specialty departments 40–62%, inside a blended store goal of 40–45%. A well-run store manages the mix, not every item to one number, so a single product can sit above or below its department range for a reason.
Worked example from the book: a product that has to sell at $12 in a department targeting 48% can cost the store about $6.25 landed. At $8 wholesale the shelf price becomes about $15.40, where it will not move, and the buyer passes. Know your number before the meeting.