#forecastingsoftwaretools

Wouldn't it be great if you could take a peep into the future? You could make better decisions and ensure success. Maybe even change the course of the future for the better.

Though this is only a fantasy in our day-to-day life, predicting the future is common practice in business and is known as business forecasting. Business forecasting enables companies to estimate their performance in a defined future time period based on past sales and the current market situation. Businesses rely on these forecasts to make agile and informed decisions that promise increased profit and savings, and to stay up to date and relevant to their customers over time.

What is business forecasting?

Business forecasting is the process of predicting business changes based on past performance and ongoing market trends. Companies use it to make informed decisions to manage their business operations and supply chain. It involves forecasting demand, sales, profits, and expenses for the coming periods to set short- and long-term business goals based on current performance.

Why do you need business forecasting?

Market conditions often change suddenly, and being unprepared can lead to substantial losses for your business. Consumer and market trends are fickle, and it's important to keep up with them to ensure your business thrives. Business forecasting enables you to monitor the market and predict how it will change. With business forecasting you can stay nimble and make smart business decisions that promise positive results.

Here are a few of the most common ways to use business forecasting. You can probably come up with others.

Make better strategies

Decision-makers use business forecasting to make data-backed decisions that lead to better results.

Manage your finances better

Use forecasts to estimate your revenue and expenses for a defined future period. Optimize budget planning to ensure greater profit and avoid financial stress.

Smart supply chain planning

Forecast demand and supply for a defined future period and manage your supply chain smartly with business forecasting. Optimize your entire supply chain to better cater to the predicted demand.

Improve customer service

When you know what your customers want, you can meet their expectations. Use business forecasting to enhance your company’s reputation and increase customer loyalty and delight.

Business forecasting methods

There is a plethora of business forecasting methods that can be used to predict future performance. None is ideal and each concentrate on a different factor that affects the forecast. These methods can largely be divided into two categories: quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative methods

Quantitative business forecasting methods are based on facts and historical data. They analyze past trends and market analysis to give you a forecast using mathematical models. They require little to no human intervention. Quantitative methods include naive forecasting, moving averages, exponential smoothing, trend projection, and regression analysis.  

Qualitative methods

Qualitative forecasting methods are often used when there is either no or insufficient data available for quantitative forecasting. They are based on experts' observations, conclusions, and experience and have a strong human bias. Qualitative methods include market research, historical analysis, Delphi technique, executive opinion process.

Business forecasting, the right way

When it comes to accurate forecasting, quantitative or qualitative methods aren't enough in themselves. To gain accurate results, a combination of both is necessary. Business Forecasting Software provides the quantitative foundation for the qualitative fine-tuning and decision-making.

Avercast – a TransImpact company offer Business Forecasting Software that uses 250+ algorithms – created and refined over years by our experts in response to our clients’ needs – to analyze past sales data, trends, the market, and more to provide you with demand forecasts up to 99% accurate. Designed to suit the needs of every business, Avercast’s Business Forecasting Software allows you to make custom adjustments to better align it with your business goals.