Which of the following best describes 'return percent'?

Return percent refers specifically to the percentage of items that customers return after purchase relative to the total items sold. It is a significant metric for businesses as it directly impacts revenue and inventory management. By tracking return percent, retailers can gain insights into customer satisfaction, product quality, and potential issues within their offerings.

Understanding return percent helps businesses address any underlying problems with their products or services, while also providing a benchmark for operational performance. A high return percent could indicate issues such as incorrect sizing, poor quality, or misrepresentation of products, which need to be resolved to improve customer retention and overall profitability.

The other options relate to different metrics that do not directly define return percent. Profit margin pertains to profitability rather than returns, sales to inventory ratio focuses on inventory management, and the total number of items sold provides a measure of sales volume but does not indicate the rate of returns. This context helps clarify why the definition centered on the percentage of sold items returned is the most accurate in describing return percent.