ABSTRACT
Broadly speaking, there are two well-defined aspects of retailing—the stock or merchandising aspect, which concerns itself with the purchase of the right categories and quantities of goods for sale at the right time; and the administrative aspect, which concerns itself with the efficiency and economy of the general organisation, so as to ensure as far as possible that it ends up with a profit at the end of the year. There are similarly two natural divisions of budgetary control that follow suit. These can be most easily explained if we work backwards.
