Sales Forecasting

• what is sales forecasting?


  the process of predicting future sales volumes and values
• what does sales forecasts do?


  help the business make decisions?
• How does sales forecasting work?


  it predicts future sales based on past sales data and market research
• what decisions can sales forecasting help with?

  • finance
  • marketing
  • operations/resources
  • human resources
• what factors affect sales forecasts?

  • consumer trends
  • economic variables
  • actions of competitors
• what technique is used to create sales forecasts?


  extrapolation
• what is extrapolation?


  assuming past trends will continue
• what is the problem with sales forecasts?


  Uncertainty and they need to be able to spot future changes which can be difficult