Factored affecting sales forecasts

• Factors that affect sales forecasting

  • Consumer trends
  • Economic variables (e.g. interest rates, inflation and unemployment levels)
  • Actions of competitors
• Consumer trends can be fairly predictable (e.g. more people want to buy fairy lights near Christmas) or much more uncertain (e.g. scientific research in the 2010s showing that butter isn't as bad for health as previously thought led to a rise in demand for butter)
• Changes in economic variables affect how much money consumers have and therefore how many products they buy
• Actions of competitors- if a competitor decreases or launches a new product a firms predicted sales will decrease