12 



STATION BULLETIN 347 



i 



THE WINNINIG5 



320 W6S sold <v. lbs sold 



GROSS PROFITS'- K.S+ &R05S PROflTS-SiH 



Influence of Eye Appeal 



Two displays of Fancy 

 2y 2 -'mch Mcintosh apples 

 were placed side by side 

 in the Dover store, one with 

 red cheeks out and the other 

 as they came from the box. 

 Although faced Mcintosh 

 were priced one-half cent 

 a pound higher than the 

 others, the sales of these 

 faced apples were almost 

 four times as great as the 

 unfaced ones, and there was 

 every indication that the 

 faced apples would have 

 sold as fast as the unfaced 

 ones if they had been priced 

 at ->4 cent to 1 cent a pound 

 more (Table 6). The ad- 

 ditional time used to im- 

 prove eye appeal seemed 

 warranted, since the extra 

 price received would certainly have covered any additional costs 

 of handling and left a good margin of profit. (See Fig. 10.) Further- 

 more, there would be an additional advantage in giving the apples this 

 extra care since there would be less bruising than if the boxes were 

 simply dumped on the display stand. 



Polished apples sold one-third faster at y 2 cent per pound more 

 than unpolished ones taken from the same box as shown in one test 

 sale. However, some customers did not like polished apples. Further 

 tests involving more markets and more grades of apples are needed 

 before conclusions are drawn as to the profitableness of polishing. In 

 these tests, faced apples sold very much better than either polished or 

 unpolished apples which were not faced. Because polishing apples 

 also cleans them, polished apples are more attractive in appearance. 



Fig. 9. Comparative Gross Profits for 

 the Same Sales Period from Sale of Con- 

 spicuously Bruised McIntosh Apples and 

 Those Not Conspicuoltsly Bruised 



STORE PRICES AND PROFIT MARGINS 



Some store managers believe there is a fairly definite point where 

 sales resistance is met when prices are raised, and that a sales unit 



Table 6. Relative Sales and Returns from Polishing and Facing 



Apples in Display 



Lots sold 



Founds Per cent 

 sold sales 



Ave. selling 

 price 



Gross 



margin, 



per cent 



Gross profit 



Total 



Per dav 



A. 

 B. 

 C. 



Faced 



Polished 



Regular 



3 lots 



328 

 135 

 103 



566 



58 



24 

 18 



100 



4 pounds/29 cents 29.4 

 4 pounds/29 cents 29.4 

 4 pounds/27 cents 24.4 



$ 7.01 

 2.89 

 1.70 



$1.40 

 .58 

 .34 



$11.60 $2.3, 



