Answer to Question 1
D
Answer to Question 2
The four basic errors a retailer can make are: (1) buying errors, (2) pricing errors, (3) merchandising errors, and (4) promotion errors.
Buying Errors: Errors in buying occur on the supply side of the pricing question. They result when the retailer buys the wrong merchandise or buys the right merchandise in too large a quantity. Whatever the cause of the buying error, the net result is a need to cut the price to move the merchandise.
Pricing Errors: These errors occur when the price of the item is too high to move the product at the speed and in the quantity desired. An overly high price is often relative to the pricing behavior of competitors. Perhaps, in principle, the price would have been acceptable, but if competitors price the same item substantially lower, then the original retailer's price becomes too high.
Merchandising Errors: Failure by the buyer to inform the sales staff of how the new merchandise relates to the current stock, ties in with the store's image, and satisfies the needs of the store's target market is the most common merchandising error. Another mistake is the
failure to keep the department manager and sales force informed about the new merchandise lines. Another merchandising error is improper handling of the merchandise by the sales staff or ineffective visual presentation of the merchandise. Mishandling errors include failure to stock the new merchandise behind old merchandise whenever possible or simply misplacing the merchandise.
Promotion Errors: Even when the right goods are purchased in the right quantities and are priced correctly, the merchandise often fails to move as planned. In this situation, the cause is most often a promotion error. The consumer has not been properly informed or prompted to purchase the merchandise. The advertising, personal selling, sales-promotion activities, or in-store displays were too weak or sporadic to elicit a strong response from potential customers.
Early Markdown Policy: Most retailers who concentrate on high inventory turnover pursue an early markdown policy. Markdowns taken early speed the movement of merchandise and also generally enable the retailer to take less of a markdown per unit to dispose of the goods. Taking that early markdown will allow the dollars obtained from selling the merchandise to be used to help finance more salable goods. At the same time, the customer seems to benefit, since markdowns are offered quickly on goods that some consumers still think of as fashionable, and the store has the appearance of having fresh merchandise. Another advantage of the early markdown policy is that it allows the retailer to replenish lower-priced lines from the higher ones that have been marked down.
Late-Markdown Policy: Allowing goods to have a long trial period before a markdown is taken is called a late-markdown policy. This policy avoids disrupting the sale of regular merchandise by too frequently marking goods down. As a consequence, customers will learn to look forward to a semiannual or annual clearance in which all or most merchandise is marked down. Thus, the bargain hunters or low-end customers will be attracted only at infrequent intervals.
The visual field as seen by a person with (a) glaucoma, (b) macular degeneration, and (c) cataracts.
Imaginary Thoracic Lines, Posterior View
Balmer Lines in the Spectrum of a Star
Secondary intravenous lines: (a) a tandem intravenous alignment
Secondary intravenous lines: (b) an intravenous piggyback (IVPB) alignment
Squall lines