21 Techniques for the measurement of the cost of inventories, such as the standard cost method or the retail
method, may be used for convenience if the results approximate cost. Standard costs take into account
normal levels of materials and supplies, labour, efficiency and capacity utilisation. They are regularly
reviewed and, if necessary, revised in the light of current conditions.
22 The retail method is often used in the retail industry for measuring inventories of large numbers of rapidly
changing items with similar margins for which it is impracticable to use other costing methods. The cost of
the inventory is determined by reducing the sales value of the inventory by the appropriate percentage
gross margin. The percentage used takes into consideration inventory that has been marked down to below
its original selling price. An average percentage for each retail department is often used.