In: Accounting
solve these questions with some solving process
Consider a retailer selling blenders currently
priced at $54. Suppose it pays $29 per blender from the
manufacturer.
(a) What is the initial contribution margin?
(b) Suppose it is considering a 33% cut in price to boost sales.
What is the break-even change in sales required to maintain its
profitability?
(c) Alternatively, suppose an expert tells the retailer that it
should consider raising its price of the blenders to $59 to improve
profit. What is the break-even change in sales permissible to again
maintain its profitability?
(d) Using the break-even change in sales you obtained in (b) and
(c), plot the break-even curve for the retailer.
(e) Suppose the retailer's market research team determines that the
elasticity of demand for consumers of blenders is —1.5. What does
this imply about the actual demand for blenders in case of the two
situations: a 33% price cut or a price increase to $59? Plot the
demand curve alongside the break-even curve to show the difference
between the two curves.
(f) Can you make recommendations to the retailer regarding which
strategy makes more sense: a 33% price cut or a price rise to $59
from its current price level of $54?