Kroger, a national supermarket chain, reported the following data (in millions) in its financial statements for a recent year:
Total revenue ............ $82,189
Total assets at end of year ....... 23,505
Total assets at beginning of year .... 23,126
a. Compute the ratio of net sales to assets. Round to two decimal places.
b. Tiffany & Co. is a large North American retailer of jewelry, with a ratio of net sales to assets of 0.85. Why would Tiffany’s ratio of net sales to assets be lower than that of Kroger?