JCPenney Company, Inc., is a major retailer with department stores in all 50 states. The dominant portion of the company’s business consists of providing merchandise and services to consumers through department stores that include catalog departments. In a recent annual report, JCPenney reported cost of goods sold of $11,042 million, ending inventory for the current year of $2,916 million, and ending inventory for the previous year of $3,213 million.

Required:
Is it possible to develop a reasonable estimate of the merchandise purchases for the year? If so, prepare the estimate; if not, explain why.