Today’s input was all about logistics and supply chain maths. We paired ourselves up and became the managers of our own stores. We were given a budget and a list of products, then told to choose 5 items we wanted to purchase and sell in our shop for the summer, autumn, winter and spring periods. We had to think about what would sell the best and how much of it to buy, we also had to take into consideration the sell by date of these items and how long they would last for. This was harder than you would think and we made a few mistakes buying certain items.

However, after the first round of purchasing, Beth and I discovered one simple trick that made us thousands.  The way to make money was to look at how much you were buying the product for and then how much you were selling it for. The bigger the increase the better. This was were our love for beans began. The beans were being sold for eight times higher the price than they were being bought for , which meant for a good profit. In addition, our beans would last and so any that weren’t sold could be taken over to our next season, therefore we weren’t losing money. By using this method we saw our profit doubling each time.

Not only did we have to calculate the basic sums of how much we were spending, how much was in the bank and how money we lost, we also had to use our initiative and look at what the best selling rate was. This input gave me an insight into how important the application of maths is in the retail industry, as small decisions can be costly for the business. In conclusion, just buy beans!