The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc., is a high-end specialty retailer, while Amazon.com uses its e-commerce services, features, and technologies to sell its products through the Internet. The balance sheet inventory disclosures for Neiman Marcus and Amazon.com are as follows for financial statements dated in 2004:
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End-of-PeriodInventory
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Beginning-of-PeriodInventory
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Neiman Marcus Group, Inc.
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$720,277,000
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$687,062,000
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Amazon.com
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479,709,000
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293,917,000
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The cost of merchandise sold reported by each company for the fiscal 2004 period was:
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Neiman Marcus Group, Inc.
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Amazon.com
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Cost of merchandise sold
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$2,321,110,000
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$5,319,127,000
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a. Determine the inventory turnover and number of days' sales in inventory for Neiman Marcus and Amazon.com.
b. Interpret your results.