Used in: CMG analysis, Week 20
What It Is
Every comp sales number is built from two moving parts: how many customers came in (transaction count) and how much each one spent (average check). These two components can move in completely opposite directions while the headline comp stays flat or positive.
Why It Matters
Transaction count tells you whether customers are choosing the business more or less often. Average check tells you whether they are spending more when they do come. A positive comp driven by transaction growth is durable — customers are actually choosing the brand more. A positive comp driven entirely by price increases is fragile customers are paying more but coming in the same amount or less.
Where to Find It
In quarterly earnings calls and press releases. Management almost always discloses both components in the prepared remarks. Search for “traffic,” “transactions,” and “check” or “ticket.” If the company only reports the blended comp without the decomposition, that silence is itself worth noting.
Real Example
Chipotle, five-quarter pattern. In every single quarter from Q2 2025 through Q1 2026, either transactions went up or the average check went up — never both simultaneously. Q1 2026 recovered transactions (+0.6%) by giving up pricing (-0.1% check). That five-quarter pattern directly falsified the hidden assumption that Chipotle could sustain both at the same time.