Sales forecasting in Excel is a hot topic if you judge by how often those three key words are found in Google searches. But there seems to be a misconception that an Excel sheet is the right place to do sales forecasting, and we understand why.
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The goal of sales forecasting of intermittent demand isn’t to achieve the most accurate forecast, but rather to predict how much inventory needs to be held to make sure you can meet demand for future random sales.
Using promotions is mostly about driving traffic of new or current customers to your store or e-shop, then hoping that they will purchase products that are not discounted in addition to the products that are discounted.
A successful retail business is all about getting the numbers right, especially the scale of those numbers. Retail empires start small, usually driven by the owner’s passion for a certain field or interest. Let’s say you know everything there is to know about fly fishing. You’ve tried everything, every piece of equipment, so you know what’s best. You leverage this skill and know-how into your very first retail shop. You are in the best position to give good, professional advice to your customers. You know which manufacturers are for real, and which ones make shiny but useless pieces of equipment. So you start your business and quickly become popular among sport fishermen. The sky is the limit now. Or is it?
Biased forecasts can cause higher inventory and logistics costs. Companies can hold 20% less inventory on average with software that has unbiased forecasts and high forecast accuracy.
It’s a common phenomenon in the retail and e-commerce world. Sales do peak over Christmas time quite substantially, which you probably clearly see on your sales graph, just like the one below.
To meet consumer demands, you need to understand the data. Learn how with this ultimate guide to sales forecasting for Shopify.
The ultimate goal of sales forecasting is to provide an engine that can automatically identify every big or small time-series pattern.
When you mention inventory management, most people imagine a pencil, paper, and hours spent in a storage room, counting away. However, modern businesses all around the world tend to utilize advanced solutions throughout the process….
Do you know how much business you will close next week? It can seem impossible to guess how much your business will earn in a week, a month, a year, or a quarter.
