Inventory Turnover › Kroger
Kroger Inventory Turnover: Grocery Case Study
The Kroger Co (KR) turned its inventory 16.3x in fiscal 2025 (year ended January 31, 2026), up from 16.1x in FY24. That is the fastest turnover among the large US supermarket chains, and it is driven by perishability rather than the membership model that lifts Costco. All figures from Kroger's consolidated statements on SEC EDGAR.
Quick answer: Kroger's fiscal 2025 and 2024 inventory turnover ratio
Fiscal 2025
16.3x for the year ended January 31, 2026. $113.2B merchandise costs over roughly $6.97B average inventory ($7.04B opening, $6.89B closing). Fastest among large US grocers.
Fiscal 2024
16.1x for the year ended February 1, 2025. $113.7B merchandise costs over roughly $7.07B average inventory.
Turnover = merchandise costs / average inventory (mean of opening and closing balance-sheet inventory). Merchandise costs and inventory taken from Kroger's consolidated financial statements on SEC EDGAR (CIK 0000056873), verified August 2026. Inventory is reported on a LIFO basis.
FY23 - FY25 turnover history
| Fiscal Year | Merchandise costs | Inv (start) | Inv (end) | Turnover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY23 (ended Feb 2024, 53 weeks) | $116.7B | $7.56B | $7.11B | 15.9x |
| FY24 (ended Feb 2025) | $113.7B | $7.11B | $7.04B | 16.1x |
| FY25 (ended Jan 2026) | $113.2B | $7.04B | $6.89B | 16.3x |
Notes on each year sit in the sector context below. FY23 was a 53-week fiscal year, which adds roughly a week of merchandise costs and reads as marginally higher turnover than the 52-week years on either side.
Three structural drivers of grocery velocity
1. Perishability forces the cycle
A supermarket cannot hold stock the way a furniture or auto-parts retailer does. Produce, dairy, meat, deli and bakery have shelf lives measured in days and are replenished on daily or multi-daily delivery cadence. Even center-store staples move on short lead times. The result is a low weeks-of-supply figure across the store, which mechanically produces high annual turnover.
2. National scale and an owned supply chain
Kroger operates its own network of distribution centers and food-production plants, supplying its supermarkets, multi-department stores and pharmacies across the US. Owning the midstream compresses lead times and lets replenishment run closer to actual demand, so less safety stock is needed to hold the same on-shelf availability.
3. LIFO accounting and a heavy private-label mix
Kroger reports grocery inventory on a LIFO basis, so the balance-sheet carrying value sits below current replacement cost and the turnover ratio reads a touch higher than a FIFO-basis peer would. A large Our Brands private-label mix also supports margin at high velocity. Both are why turnover alone flatters grocery; see the LIFO vs FIFO and GMROI pages for the adjustments.
High turnover, thin margin: why GMROI matters more here
Grocery is the textbook case of velocity paying for margin. Kroger turns inventory more than 16x a year, roughly three times faster than Costco's 13.0x, yet earns far less gross margin per dollar of sales. The high turnover is not a sign of superior management versus Costco; it is the perishability of the assortment. Comparing a supermarket's turnover to a warehouse club's tells you little.
The more useful cross-format measure is GMROI, which multiplies gross margin by turnover. A low-margin, high-turnover grocer and a high-margin, slow-turnover specialty retailer can land on similar GMROI. Benchmark Kroger against other conventional supermarkets, not against clubs or discounters.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kroger's inventory turnover ratio in fiscal 2025?
Kroger turned its inventory 16.3x in fiscal 2025, the year ended January 31, 2026. That is $113.2B of merchandise costs divided by roughly $6.97B average inventory (the mean of the $7.04B opening and $6.89B closing balances) from its financial statements. It is the fastest turnover among the large US supermarket chains, ahead of Albertsons.
What was Kroger's inventory turnover in fiscal 2024?
Kroger's inventory turnover was 16.1x in fiscal 2024 (the year ended February 1, 2025), on $113.7B merchandise costs over roughly $7.07B average inventory. It then rose to 16.3x in fiscal 2025 as inventory edged lower and the specialty pharmacy divestiture removed a low-margin sales line.
How is Kroger's inventory turnover calculated?
Divide merchandise costs (Kroger's cost of goods sold, which includes advertising, warehousing, transportation and the LIFO charge) by average inventory, where average inventory is the mean of the opening and closing balance-sheet inventory for the fiscal year. Both figures come from Kroger's consolidated statements on SEC EDGAR (CIK 0000056873). Kroger reports inventory on a LIFO basis, which understates the carrying value versus a FIFO peer and so reads as a slightly higher turnover.
Why is Kroger's inventory turnover higher than most retailers?
Grocery is a perishable, high-frequency category. Fresh departments (produce, dairy, meat, deli, bakery) must cycle in days, and center-store staples replenish on short lead times, so a supermarket holds only a few weeks of stock. Kroger's national scale, its own distribution and food-production network, and a heavy private-label mix compress lead times further. The trade-off is thin margin: grocery pairs high turnover with low gross margin, which is why GMROI, not turnover alone, is the better productivity gauge.