The Retail Express forecasting engine enables retailers to integrate Merchandizing and supply chain planning across disparate functions, reducing stock, waste and improving shelf availability. Users can share information enabling collaboration with all parts of the business, including buyers, merchandisers and suppliers to ensure continuity of supply to stores and better service to customers. The sales forecasting software calculates forecasts by day, week or period, using advanced algorithms developed with leading universities.
The system imposes no limit on the start or duration of the forecast horizon. The Retail Express dynamic modelling techniques will automatically take into account the effect of previous weeks' sales when calculating the next. Sales forecasting can either be done on-line in real-time for specific categories and group of stores or be scheduled to run overnight if mass forecasts are required (e.g. all items all stores). The Retail Express forecasting engine delivers forecasts with a high level of accuracy taking into account the effects of price changes, promotions, ads and displays; including the ripple effect of those factors on other related products.
Although POS data is processed at store level it can also be aggregated by region or globally. This means that forecasting can be done at any level to make reviewing forecast results more manageable. Because we leverage multiple forecasting techniques we can still deliver improvements in the level of forecasting accuracy across all types of products – fast slow moving, lumpy, short life cycle or highly seasonal.
The Demand Forecast can be presented in a format to suit different stakeholders such as merchandise decision makers who need on demand real time forecasts for evaluating Promotion options, new pricing strategies or Lift achieved by putting an item in the flyer.
In all cases Retail Express is providing these forecasts automatically as part of a systemic solution.
The creation and management of elasticity demand models to support the forecasting requirements of Merchandizing and supply chain.
The science and technology by which the data and algorithms combine to provide data models and forecasts for specific instances and conditions.
