Inventory Turnover and days' sales in inventory Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., and Ingles Markets, Inc. are three grocery chains in the United States. Inventory management is an important aspect of the grocery retail business. Recent balance sheets for these three companies indicated the following merchandise inventory (in millions) information: Kroger SproutsIngles Cost of merchandise sold $94,894 $3,460$3,113 Inventory, end of year Inventory, beginning of year 8,123 7,781 264 372 230 349 a. & b. Determine the inventory turnover and the number of days' sales in inventory (use 365 days) for the three companies. Round all interim calculations to one decimal place. For days' sales in inventory, round final answers to one decimal place, and for inventory turnover, round to two decimal places. Company names Kroger Sprouts Ingles Inventory Turnover Days' Sales in Inventory 11.93 30.6 days 14.01 26.1 x days 8.64 42.2 x days c. The inventory turnover ratios and days' sales in inventory are similar for Kroger and Sprouts. Ingles has a lower inventory turnover and a higher than Kroger and Sprouts. These results suggest that Kroger and Sprouts are more efficient than Ingles in managing inventory. days' sales in inventory d. If Ingles had Kroger's days' sales in inventory, how much additional cash flow would have been generated from the smaller inventory relative to its actual average inventory position? Round interim calculations to one decimal place and your final answer to the nearest million. 99.5 x million Feedback Check My Work a. 1. Determine the average daily cost of the merchandise sold by dividing the cost of goods sold by 365. 2. Divide the average inventory by the average daily cost of the merchandise sold. The average inventory is the total of the beginning and ending inventories divided by two. 3. Divide the cost of goods sold by the average inventory. b. Use the hypothetical numbers and refigure the average inventory using the number of days' sales in inventory calculation. Based on this, would Ingles have more or less cash tied up in inventory?