According to Experts on Shopping Behavior, More Shoppers Would Shop at Jerrod’s Department Store if they were Offered the Convenience of Shopping Carts.

Question: Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

According to experts on shopping behavior, more shoppers would shop at Jerrod’s department store if they were offered the convenience of shopping carts. In fact, even if the amount spent by these additional customers only just covered the cost of providing the carts, providing carts would still probably increase Jerrod’s profits, since _______.

(A) the layout of Jerrod’s is open enough to accommodate shopping carts comfortably
(B) several department stores that compete with Jerrod’s have begun to make shopping carts available to their customers
(C) there are some potential customers who would not be enticed to shop at Jerrod’s by the availability of shopping carts
(D) stores that make shopping carts available to customers usually have to hire people to retrieve them from parking areas
(E) a customer with a shopping cart buys more, on average, than a customer without a cart

Answer: E
Explanation:

A GMAT Critical Reasoning section comprises of facts in the form of a short passage. In GMAT critical reasoning, the candidates are tested on their reasoning, logical and analytical thinking abilities.

If we read the passage we get facts and conclusion from those facts. Let us check the facts and conclusion. This will make it easier for us to understand the options.
Fact: According to experts, more shoppers would shop at Jerrod’s department store if they were offered the convenience of shopping carts.
We need to draw the conclusion from the passage. This is a complete the argument task.

(A) the layout of Jerrod’s is open enough to accommodate shopping carts comfortably - This statement is irrelevant. The argument needs a reason how shopping carts would increase more profit which is not provided here. Hence, we can consider this incorrect.

(B) several department stores that compete with Jerrod’s have begun to make shopping carts available to their customers - This option talks about several department stores. Here, we are not looking for other stores but for Jerrod only. How their profit will increase. Hence, tis statement is also not relevant and does not fir the blank.

(C) there are some potential customers who would not be enticed to shop at Jerrod’s by the availability of shopping carts - This statement does not fit the blank since potential customers who would not be enticed to shop will not increase profit. People should be enticed to shop. This is just the opposite of that. Hence, this is also incorrect.

(D) stores that make shopping carts available to customers usually have to hire people to retrieve them from parking areas - Hiring people to retrieve shopping carts from parking areas is out of scope. There is nothing mentioned in the passage regarding hiring of people. Also, this will increase the cost as those people have to be paid. Hence, this is not correct.

(E) a customer with a shopping cart buys more, on average, than a customer without a cart - Usually customer with a shopping cart buys more. This will help in having more profit for the store. Shopping cart provides more space for shopping and hence, the profit. This is the justified answer to fill the blan. This is correct

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