Same-Store Sales
Same-store sales (SSS), also called comparable-store sales or comps, measure the revenue growth generated by retail locations or restaurants that have been operating for a minimum period — typically 12 or 13 months — stripping out the effect of new store openings or closures.
For retailers, restaurant chains, and other operators of physical locations, total revenue can rise either because the existing base of stores is performing better (organic growth) or simply because the company is opening more locations (expansion). Same-store sales isolates the organic component by comparing the current period's revenue from stores that were also open in the prior period to what those same stores generated then. If the comparison is apples-to-apples — same stores, same period last year — any growth (or decline) reflects genuine changes in customer traffic, ticket size, pricing, or product mix rather than footprint expansion.
Same-store sales are disclosed by virtually every major U.S. retailer and restaurant chain. McDonald's, Starbucks, Chipotle, Walmart, and Home Depot all report SSS as a primary performance metric each quarter. The metric is expressed as a percentage change: a McDonald's SSS of +4.0% in a given quarter means that the global system of comparable McDonald's locations generated 4% more revenue than in the same quarter of the prior year. This figure can be further decomposed into traffic growth (more customers visiting) and average check growth (customers spending more per visit), which provides insight into the underlying drivers.
For investors, the quality of an SSS result matters as much as the headline number. A 3% SSS driven entirely by menu price increases while traffic is flat or negative is less constructive than 3% SSS driven by traffic growth, which indicates genuine consumer preference and market share gains. Starbucks' 2023 and 2024 experience — where SSS declined as price increases drove traffic away — illustrated how a pricing-driven SSS model is fragile when consumers become value-conscious.
Same-store sales also serve as a diagnostic for new unit economics. If the company is opening new stores aggressively but existing-store SSS is negative, the expansion may be cannibalizing existing locations or masking underlying brand erosion with headline revenue growth. Conversely, strong SSS alongside unit expansion suggests the brand has genuine demand that supports both continued investment in new locations and growing productivity at existing ones.
The definition of 'comparable' varies by company: some include locations open for 12 months, others require 13, 15, or even 24 months. Additionally, the treatment of temporary closures, remodeled stores, and relocated stores differs across companies. Investors should read the SSS definition in the footnotes carefully when comparing across companies, as methodological differences can make headline numbers non-comparable despite appearing equivalent.