The Personality of Turnover

Stock turnover is a basic measure of business perf ormance. It is easily understood and is easily calculated. It is kept in one form or another by all levels of the channel of distribution and is employed by all industries. It gives at least one uniform measure of performance between retailer and wholesaler and bet ween wholesaler and manufacturer. Therefore, comparisons between industries, different methods of distribution, and even different individual firms are possible using turnover. There is probably no industry where turnover is more important than in the food industry. Because of the highly competitive nature of this industry, distributors have been forced to accept lower margins than those enjoyed by many other industries. It is, therefore, necessary for distributors of food products to place great emphasis on turnover in order to generate a satisfactory return.