QQ on rates and averages (ex: customers per store vs average number of customers)

Question

Example:

Store 1: 50 customers

Store 2: 100 customers

Store 3: 200 customers

Store 4: 150 customers

(50+100+200+150) / 4 = 150

Can 150 be referred to as both: customers per store AND average number of customer per store?

Is there a difference between saying X per Y vs average number of X per Y?

Answer 1

I think it matters very much what point you are trying to make. If stores 1-4 are all in the same chain and you want to make a global statement then referring to an average number of customers over all stores might be acceptable, though a bit misleading. 150 customers is a gross overestimate for store 1 and an overestimate for store 2, an underestimate for store 3 and on target for store 4. It might be more ethical to say a total of 500 customers were in the 4 stores during the event and let your audience decide how to interpret that.