Question

Kent worked in the housewares section of a department store. This year he set a record high for vacuum sales with 567 vacuums sold. The previous high was last year, when 540 vacuums were sold. What is the percent of increase in sales from last year to this year?

Answer 1

The answer would be 5%.

Answer 2

The percent of increase in sales from last year to this year is 5%.

Since the current vacuum sales is compared to the previous vacuum sales, the previous vacuum sales will be used as the basis of either increase or decrease of sales in the current year. In this instance, it is increase in sales.

We simply divide 567 by 540 and multiply the quotient with 100% and deduct 100% from the product to get the percent increase.

567 / 540 = 1.05 x 100% = 105% - 100% = 5% percent of increase.

or simply get the difference in sales and divide it by the previous sales and multiply by 100%

567 - 540 = 27 / 540 = 0.05 x 100% = 5%