Use This Information for Questions That Refer to the Sporting

question 82

Multiple Choice

Use this information for questions that refer to the Sporting Products,Inc.(SPI) case. Randy Todd,marketing manager for Sporting Products,Inc.(SPI) ,is thinking about how changes taking place among retailers in his channel might impact his strategy.
SPI sells the products it produces through wholesalers and retailers.For example,SPI sells basketballs to Wholesale Supply for $8.00.Wholesale Supply uses a 20 percent markup,and most of its "sport shop" retailer customers,like Robinson's Sporting Goods,use a 33 percent markup to arrive at the price they charge final consumers.However,one fast-growing retail chain,Sports Depot,uses only a 20 percent markup for basketballs,even though it pays Wholesale Supply the same price as other retailers.Furthermore,Sports Depot occasionally lowers the price of basketballs and sells them at cost,to draw customers into its stores and stimulate sales of its pricey basketball shoes.
Sports Depot is also using other pricing approaches that are different from the sports shops that usually handle SPI products.For example,Sports Depot prices all its baseball gloves at $20,$40,or $60-with no prices in between.There are three big bins,one for each price point.
Randy is also curious about how Sports Depot's new strategy to increase sales of tennis balls will work out.The basic idea is to sell tennis balls in large quantities to nonprofit groups,who resell the balls to raise money.For example,a service organization at a local college bought 2,000 tennis balls printed with the college logo.Sports Depot charged $.50 each for the tennis balls,plus a $500 one-time charge for the stamp to print the logo.The service group plans to resell the tennis balls for $2.50 each and contribute the profits to a shelter for the homeless.
Randy is not certain if Sports Depot's ideas will affect SPI's plans.For example,SPI is considering adding tennis racquets to the lines it produces.This would require a $500,000 addition to its factory,as well as the purchase of new equipment that costs $1,000,000.The variable cost to produce a tennis racquet would be $20,but Todd thinks that SPI could sell the racquet at a wholesale price of $40 each.That would allow most retailers to add their normal markup and make a profit.However,Sports Depot may sells the racquet at a lower than normal price.
Randy Todd could use break-even analysis with his tennis racquet decision to

• A)reveal the combination of quantity and price that gives the highest profit.
• B)set the most profitable price.
• C)estimate future sales.
• D)compare the break-even quantity for different prices with the likely level of demand.
• E)determine Wholesale Supply's likely selling price.

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Definitions:

Indifference Curve

A graph showing different bundles of goods between which a consumer is indifferent, indicating the same level of satisfaction or utility for each bundle.

Budget Line

A diagram that represents all the possible pairs of two commodities that a buyer can afford, taking into account their budget and the pricing of these commodities.

Indifference Curves

Graphical representations used in microeconomics to illustrate different combinations of two goods that provide the same level of utility to a consumer.

Chardonnay

A variety of green-skinned grapes used in the production of white wine, characterized by its versatility and flavor profile.