What is the best demand forecasting software? Depending on the needs of your company, there’s a forecasting software that’s sure to improve your inventory. If you’d like to see your inventory levels and operations become more accurate, you’ve come to the right place.
Let’s look at the last few years. Consumer demand has fluctuated unexpectedly with advancements and changes regarding the status of the COVID-19 pandemic. Does your company sell products or services? Do you handle any kind of inventory? If you aren’t currently using a demand management system, we’d argue your operations have room to improve.
What is Demand Planning?
Demand planning allows businesses to adequately prepare for upcoming consumer demand. Fluctuations are constantly seen in consumer demand and trends. It’s a huge benefit to have a tool that tells users what their consumers are going to want, and then allows them to make effective plans to meet that demand.
Using different types of data, forecasts are created that accurately predict future demand. This data can range from historical sales, current trends, consumer profiles, and more.
The Benefits?
You may think to yourself that as a market professional, maybe even expert, you don’t need to rely on demand planning and forecasting tools. Regardless of how much industry knowledge and experience you have, if implemented, demand management software will benefit your company in multiple ways. Let’s explore just the tip of the benefits iceberg that’s seen when demand planning is done correctly.
Visibility
Many challenges would be greatly simplified if we could see the future. You’ve heard “hindsight is 20/20,” but with forecasting you’re given a 20/20 view of both the future and the past.
Supply chain demand planning gives you a clear view of what demand your company will face in the coming months and years. This clear perspective allows you to make plans to meet this demand. Rather than using your ‘best guess,’ this visibility allows you to plan with confidence. Over time, your plans will become more and more accurate which will bring an abundance of additional benefits.
Satisfied Customers
Something to remember about customer loyalty is, it can change at any time. While consumer profiles vary, there are some things that most customers have in common. Customers frequent businesses that meet their needs and desires. They want to find what they want when they want it.
We live in a world of instant gratification, so if someone doesn’t get what they want from you they’ll go somewhere else. In this scenario you miss out on that individual sale, and you also risk losing the opportunity to do future business with that customer.
With demand management software, you can be ready to satisfy every customer that looks your way. With clear visibility, your inventory can consist of products that your customers will buy. As you know, inventory is expensive, so having the right items in stock will benefit both your customers and you.
Financial Growth
No matter how passionate you may be about your specific business and products, you’re at least partly in it for the money. No matter how efficient your operations are, they will always cost you. It’s always going to require money to keep products in stock, so why not make sure you have the right items?
When you utilize demand planning and forecasting tools your wallet will grow. You’ll have products in stock that will sell, therefore making you more profit. The financial return outweighs the cost associated with demand planning software.
Seamless Operations
With accurate inventory, accurately executed sales, happy customers, financial growth, and more, your operations will dramatically improve.
Your warehouse will be full of inventory with good turnover times, and it will lack excess inventory and stockouts. This will result in more efficient warehouse practices, not to mention happier, more productive employees.
When you know what products are going to sell, your marketing campaigns can be constructively targeted to the right audiences.
All in all, demand planning and forecasting is a huge benefit to the companies that utilize it. You may ask yourself, “what’s the best demand planning software?” It’s important to do your research to find the best fit for the specific needs of your company. If you want to see the improvements mentioned in this article, as well as many more, you need to get your hands on demand planning tools.