Value share and volume share

The framework

Volume share is your slice of the units a category sells. Value share is your slice of the money shoppers spend in it.

Value share is volume share weighted by price. A brand priced above the category average has a bigger value share than volume share; a cheap brand the reverse.

A worked example

A brand sells 20% of the category's units at a price 10% above the category average. Its value share is roughly 20% × 1.1 = 22%.

Now raise the price 5% and change nothing else. Volume share falls first. Value share falls by less, because each unit you still sell is worth more. With low elasticity it can even rise.

Why the two numbers part company

Net sales track value, not units, so value share is closer to revenue. That is why boards usually set share targets on value share: it is the money in the category.

Volume share drives factory load and unit cost: fewer units spread fixed costs thinner. It is also the better read on how many people you reach, and so on future memory.

Investors read value share gains bought with price cuts as weaker than gains from more buyers. And chasing value with price alone can shrink the buyer base you need later.

Use it with a group

Ask: a premium brand will usually show which, value share above volume share or the reverse? (Value above volume: each unit sells for more than average.)

Then ask why a board would set its target in value rather than units, and what a team could do to hit a value target that would hurt the brand a year later.