Chapter 6, Problem 2ADM

Costco, Walmart, Nordstrom: Inventory turnover and number of days’ sales in inventory

The general merchandise retail industry has a number of segments represented by the following companies:

Company Name	Merchandise Concept
Costco Wholesale Corporation	Membership warehouse
Walmart Stores, Inc.	Discount general merchandise
Nordstrom, Inc.	Fashion department store

For a recent year, the following cost of goods sold and beginning and ending inventories are provided from corporate annual reports (in millions) for these three companies:

	Costco	Walmart	Nordstrom
Cost of goods sold	$98,458	$365,086	$8,406
Inventories:
Beginning of year	7,894	44,858	1,531
End of year	8,456	45,141	1,733

A. Determine the inventory turnover ratio for all three companies. (Round all calculations to one decimal place.)

B. Determine the number of days’ sales in inventory for all three companies. (Use 365 days and round all calculations to one decimal place.)

C. Interpret these results based on each company’s merchandising concept.

To determine

Inventory turnover ratio: Inventory turnover ratio is used to determine the number of times inventory used or sold during the particular accounting period. The formula to calculate the inventory turnover ratio is as follows:

$\text{Inventory turnover}=\frac{\text{Cost of goods sold}}{\text{Average inventory}}$

Days’ sales in inventory: Days’ sales in inventory are used to determine number of days a particular company takes to make sales of the inventory available with them. The formula to calculate the days’ sales in inventory ratio is as follows:

$\text{Days' sales in inventory}=\frac{\text{Days in accounting period}}{\text{Inventory turnover}}$

To determine: the inventory turnover for Company C, Company W and Company N

Answer to Problem 2ADM

The inventory turnover ratio for Company C is calculated is calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Inventory turnover}=\frac{\text{Cost of goods sold}}{\text{Average inventory}}\\ =\frac{\$98,458}{8,175\left(1\right)}\\ =12.0\text{ Times}\end{array}$

The inventory turnover ratio for Company W is calculated is calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Inventory turnover}=\frac{\text{Cost of goods sold}}{\text{Average inventory}}\\ =\frac{\$365,086}{44,999.50\left(2\right)}\\ =8.1\text{ Times}\end{array}$

The inventory turnover ratio for Company N is calculated is calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Inventory turnover}=\frac{\text{Cost of goods sold}}{\text{Average inventory}}\\ =\frac{\$8,406}{1,632\left(3\right)}\\ =5.2\text{ Times}\end{array}$

Explanation of Solution

The inventory turnover ratio is calculated by dividing cost of goods sold by average inventory during the period. The average inventory is calculating by dividing beginning inventory and ending inventory by 2. The inventory turnover ratio is an important measure as to how efficient is the management is good at managing inventory and achieving sales from it. Working notes:

The average inventory is calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Average inventory}=\frac{\left(\begin{array}{l}\text{Inventory, beginning of the year + }\\ \text{Inventory, end of the year}\end{array}\right)}{2}\\ =\frac{\left(7,894+8,456\right)}{2}\\ =8,175\end{array}$ (1)

Working notes:

The average inventory is calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Average inventory}=\frac{\left(\begin{array}{l}\text{Inventory, beginning of the year + }\\ \text{Inventory, end of the year}\end{array}\right)}{2}\\ =\frac{\left(44,858+45,141\right)}{2}\\ =44,999.50\end{array}$ (2)

Working notes:

The average inventory is calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Average inventory}=\frac{\left(\begin{array}{l}\text{Inventory, beginning of the year + }\\ \text{Inventory, end of the year}\end{array}\right)}{2}\\ =\frac{\left(1,531+1,733\right)}{2}\\ =1,632\end{array}$ (3)

Conclusion

The inventory turnover of Company C is 12.0 Times, the inventory turnover of Company W is 8.1 Times & the inventory turnover of Company N is 5.2 Times.

To determine

the Days’ sales in inventory ratio for Company C, Company W and Company N.

Answer to Problem 2ADM

The Days’ sale in inventory ratio for Company C is calculated is calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Days' sales in inventory}=\frac{\text{Days in accounting period}}{\text{Inventory turnover}}\\ =\frac{365}{12.0}\\ =\text{30}\text{.3 days}\end{array}$

The Days’ sales in inventory ratio for Company W is calculated are calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Days' sales in inventory}=\frac{\text{Days in accounting period}}{\text{Inventory turnover}}\\ =\frac{365}{8.1}\\ =\text{45}\text{.0 days}\end{array}$

The Days’ sales in inventory ratio for Company N is calculated are calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{c}\text{Days' sales in inventory}=\frac{\text{Days in accounting period}}{\text{Inventory turnover}}\\ =\frac{365}{5.2}\\ =71.0\text{ days}\end{array}$

Explanation of Solution

The Days’ sales in inventory ratio are calculated by dividing days in accounting period by inventory turnover ratio. The Days’ sale in inventory ratio is an important measure to know how long the company is holding the inventory before selling when compared to its peers.

Conclusion

The Days’ sales in inventory of Company C is 30.3 days, the Days’ sales in inventory of Company W is 45.0 days, & the Days’ sales in inventory of Company N is 71.0 days.

To determine

To interpret: the above calculated ratios.

Explanation of Solution

The inventory turnover ratio and number of days’ sales in inventory of all the three companies reflect the merchandising approaches of all companies. Company C is a club warehouse and it has approach of holding only items which are quickly sold. Most of the items are sold in bulk at very attractive prices.

In case of company W, it has a traditional discounter approach. Even though it has attractive pricing, the inventory movement is slower than in the case of company C.

In the case of company N, it is a high-end fashioner retailer. It offers a wide collection of specialty and unique goods that are specifically designed for fashion market rather than for general mass market. Therefore, the movement is slower than other two companies yet it has highest margin.