YTD

YTD is a standard way Amazon, vendors, and sellers analyse results within the context of a single year. Unlike WoW (Week over Week) or YoY (Year over Year), which measure short- or long-term changes, YTD shows aggregate performance over multiple months to date.

How It Works:

• Formula:Example: If sales in Jan–Sep 2025 = $5M, the YTD Sales as of September 30 = $5M.
• YTD can be applied to:
  • Net sales revenue
  • Units sold
  • Advertising spend & ROI
  • Instock metrics
  • Returns and defect rates

Benefits for Vendors:

• Cumulative view: Tracks how the brand is performing across the whole year.
• Goal tracking: Useful for measuring progress against annual targets and budgets.
• Negotiation leverage: Vendors can present YTD metrics in AVN or QBR to demonstrate performance.

Benefits for Amazon:

• Category-level insight: Shows year-to-date performance vs. annual plans.
• Forecasting: Helps predict whether annual targets will be achieved.
• Accountability: Ensures vendors and Amazon stay aligned on business health.

Challenges:

• YTD does not account for seasonality peaks (e.g., Q4 holiday season still pending).
• Comparing YTD across years can be misleading if analysed before peak events (Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday).
• Best used in combination with YoY and MoM for full context.

Why It Matters:
YTD is a baseline metric in all Amazon business reviews (WBR, MBR, QBR). It allows both vendors and Amazon to evaluate cumulative progress against plans and adjust strategies ahead of critical retail periods.

Example:
By August 2025, a vendor’s YTD revenue = $18M, already exceeding the prior year’s full-year revenue of $16M, signalling strong YoY growth before peak season.

In short:
YTD (Year to Date) measures cumulative performance from January 1 to today, helping vendors and Amazon track progress against annual goals and forecast year-end results.