The following appeared in a memorandum written by the assistant manager of a store that sells gourmet food items from various countries:
"A local wine store made an interesting discovery last month: it sold more French than Italian wine on days when it played recordings of French accordion music, but it sold more Italian than French wine on days when Italian songs were played. Therefore, I recommend that we put food specialties from one particular country on sale for a week at a time and play only music from that country while the sale is going on. By this means we will increase our profits in the same way that the wine store did, and we will be able to predict more precisely what items we should stock at any given time."
The gourmet food store's manager argues that putting food specialties from one particular country on sale for a week at time while playing music from that country will increase the sales of those products. In his analysis, the author cites an example of a wine store that has recently seen an uptick in sales of both French and Italian wines while the store played music from both of the respective countries. The author fails to make a persuasive argument based on several underlying assumptions and weak reasoning.
Firstly, the author in his argument draws a comparison between customers who have bought wine in the wine shop and customers that are anticipated to buy food items in his store. The author states that when the wine store sells wine from Italy and France while playing music each country, sales tend to be higher. However, the author fails to state whether the food store will only be selling food from Italy and France, making a difficult to draw a sufficient conclusion based on the evidence presented in the argument. For instance, the reader cannot conclude if selling food products imported from Germany while playing German music would be less successful than selling Italian or French products.
Secondly, the author argues that the proposed food sale will allow management of the store to predict more precisely what items the store should stock at any given time. In his comparison, the author does not discuss whether the successful sale at the wine shop led to better inventory control. For instance, there could be wines from Greece and Spain that have been in stock for years. The author also states that the proposed sale will increase profits just as the wine store did. However, even if sales were to increase due to the proposed food sale, there are several important factors missing from the argument that could impact overall profitability. These factors include cost of product, store employees, and rent.
Overall, the argument lacks persuasion as it is missing several important key pieces of data and fails to draw proper analogies. The argument could be strengthened if it stated that the store's intent was to sell food items from France and Italy while playing music from those respective countries. Therefore, the reader would have the ability to compare consumer patterns between the two stores.
"A local wine store made an interesting discovery last month: it sold more French than Italian wine on days when it played recordings of French accordion music, but it sold more Italian than French wine on days when Italian songs were played. Therefore, I recommend that we put food specialties from one particular country on sale for a week at a time and play only music from that country while the sale is going on. By this means we will increase our profits in the same way that the wine store did, and we will be able to predict more precisely what items we should stock at any given time."
The gourmet food store's manager argues that putting food specialties from one particular country on sale for a week at time while playing music from that country will increase the sales of those products. In his analysis, the author cites an example of a wine store that has recently seen an uptick in sales of both French and Italian wines while the store played music from both of the respective countries. The author fails to make a persuasive argument based on several underlying assumptions and weak reasoning.
Firstly, the author in his argument draws a comparison between customers who have bought wine in the wine shop and customers that are anticipated to buy food items in his store. The author states that when the wine store sells wine from Italy and France while playing music each country, sales tend to be higher. However, the author fails to state whether the food store will only be selling food from Italy and France, making a difficult to draw a sufficient conclusion based on the evidence presented in the argument. For instance, the reader cannot conclude if selling food products imported from Germany while playing German music would be less successful than selling Italian or French products.
Secondly, the author argues that the proposed food sale will allow management of the store to predict more precisely what items the store should stock at any given time. In his comparison, the author does not discuss whether the successful sale at the wine shop led to better inventory control. For instance, there could be wines from Greece and Spain that have been in stock for years. The author also states that the proposed sale will increase profits just as the wine store did. However, even if sales were to increase due to the proposed food sale, there are several important factors missing from the argument that could impact overall profitability. These factors include cost of product, store employees, and rent.
Overall, the argument lacks persuasion as it is missing several important key pieces of data and fails to draw proper analogies. The argument could be strengthened if it stated that the store's intent was to sell food items from France and Italy while playing music from those respective countries. Therefore, the reader would have the ability to compare consumer patterns between the two stores.
