What percentage of a grocery store's sales is profit? Gross, EBITDA and net margin at Turkish chains

What is the difference between gross, EBITDA and net margin?

Gross margin is what the product itself leaves: cost of goods sold is deducted from net sales and the result is divided by net sales. Rent, staff, energy and logistics do not enter the calculation. In grocery, gross margin is the outcome of pricing and buying decisions; supplier discounts, price-difference invoices and shrinkage show up here.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margin shows the operating profit left after store and head-office costs are deducted from gross profit. Chains' operational efficiency is best compared on this margin, because it leaves out differences in financing structure and investment timing.

Net margin is the profit left after every line, including depreciation, financing costs, the effect of inflation accounting and tax. It is the number shareholders see, but on its own it does not describe operational performance: two chains with the same EBITDA margin end up with different net margins because of debt and the TMS 29 effect.

Gross margin

(Net sales − Cost of goods sold) ÷ Net sales × 100

EBITDA margin

(Gross profit − Operating costs excluding depreciation) ÷ Net sales × 100

Net margin

Net profit for the period ÷ Net sales × 100

Net sales exclude VAT and are net of returns. A margin calculated on sales including VAT comes out lower than it is.

What margins do listed grocery chains make?

In Turkey, the chains that publish their margins regularly are the listed ones: BİM, ŞOK and Migros. A101 is not listed and does not publish annual reports. The table below is taken from the companies' reports and, for Migros's quarterly gross margin, from a brokerage assessment. The periods differ, so each row is read with its own period.

Three conclusions follow. First, gross margin varies with format: 18.9 per cent at BİM with its discount model, 23.9 per cent at wider-range Migros in the last quarter of 2025. Second, EBITDA margin sits between 1.9 and 6.6 per cent and net margin below 3 per cent. Third, a gap of a few points in gross margin is closed by operating costs; a high gross margin does not mean a high net margin.

ŞOK's nine-month net margin is not included; the current figure should be read from the financial statements the company files with Turkey's Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). Store counts and margins are updated quarterly.

Where do sales leak on the way to profit?

In grocery, the distance between gross and net profit closes line by line: store staff, rent, energy, warehouse and fleet cost, head-office costs, depreciation and financing. Shrinkage and count variance cut straight into the gross profit line, and in most reports they disappear inside cost of goods sold.

In a business with a net margin around 2 per cent, the effect of shrinkage is disproportionate. In its 2025 integrated annual report, Migros named a 30 basis point improvement in its loss rate as the main driver of its gross profit gain. The example below shows how the same arithmetic looks at store level.

How does inflation accounting (TMS 29) affect grocery margins?

In Turkey, listed companies restate their financial statements during high inflation under TMS 29 (Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies, the local equivalent of IAS 29). ŞOK's nine-month margins and Migros's 2025 net margin were reported on this basis. The restatement brings past figures to today's purchasing power, so restated and unrestated margins are not set side by side.

Migros's 2025 integrated annual report lists two effects among the items affecting gross margin: the inflation adjustment on inventories and the interest embedded in credit purchases. When old stock bought cheaply is sold at today's price, a margin calculated on historical cost looks high; the restatement removes that gap.

The practical consequence for your own business is this: management reports also show margin with cost of goods sold at last purchase cost. A margin calculated on average cost carries yesterday's cheap stock and misleads pricing decisions under high inflation. The distinction is covered in detail in the weighted average cost guide.

TMS 29 accounting is carried out with the company's accountant and independent auditor; this section describes only its effect on management reporting.

Which data do you need to calculate your own store's margin?

A single-store grocer and a chain cannot be compared directly: a chain's EBITDA also carries head-office, warehouse and logistics costs, which a single store either does not have or hides in the owner's own labour. Comparisons are made on the same definition, with the same costs on the same lines.

1. Fix net salesVAT, returns and discounts are deducted from POS sales. Till variances and voids are held on separate lines.
2. Record cost of goods sold in fullPrice-difference invoices, supplier discounts and landed costs are added to the purchase invoice. Shrinkage and count variance are shown on separate lines.
3. Separate store costsRent, staff, energy and other store costs are recorded by store; head-office and warehouse costs are allocated with a defined key.
4. Show all three margins in one reportGross margin, store contribution and EBITDA sit on the same page; the definition used is stated in the heading.
5. Look weekly, not monthlyThe effects of shrinkage and price differences are read weekly; a margin loss seen at month-end can no longer be corrected.

How does Mindpera calculate and track grocery margin?

In the Mind Cost module, weighted average cost and last purchase cost are held as separate fields on the same row; gross margin, net margin and post-discount margin are calculated separately for both methods. Freight and similar costs are allocated to products with a defined key, and the cost gap is split into batch, cost line and currency effect.

The database calculates past-period margin with defined formulas; run the same report twice and the same number comes back. Agents find the product whose last purchase cost crosses its threshold, open a task for the pricing owner and follow it until the price is updated. Mind Ops produces the daily store scorecard and cost anomalies from the same data.

• Mind Cost: both cost methods side by side, a margin report and a price update suggestion list.
• Mind Ops: daily store scorecard, store costs and anomaly detection.
• Mind Stock: shrinkage and count variance held as separate movement types; the shrinkage rate raises an alert when it crosses a threshold.

If sales, purchase and cost data are spread across ERP and till systems, installation brings them into a single model.