Contribution Margin (Sales Mix)

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What is Sales Mix?

Sales mix is the proportion of different products and services that comprise the total sales of a company. Sales mix is a key issue in businesses that sell products with differing profit levels, since a change in the mix of products sold can trigger a change in net profits, even when total sales remain approximately the same from period to period. Thus, if a company introduces a new product that has a low profit, and which it sells aggressively, it is quite possible that profits will decline even as total sales increase. Conversely, if a company elects to drop a low-profit product line and instead push sales of a higher-profit product line, total profits can actually increase even as total sales decline.