Demand planning is a way of making sure products are available when customers want them. It requires lots of different people working together, such as supply chain or inventory management. If you do this right, inventory will always be enough, which means you can sell more things and make more money.
If you are new to eCommerce, this blog post will shed light on the critical importance of demand planning.
Demand Planning for eCommerce Businesses: Best Practices
1 - Collect and Prepare Data
The first step in demand planning is to make sure you have the right data to do it. You need to collect data from your suppliers, your own website, and even your competitors. Then, you need to organize the data into a proper format so you can use it to forecast demand.
For example, you might have a service that allows you to get the average inventory for an SKU on a retailer's website. This data lets you estimate the demand for a product from your competitor's website.
2 - Use the Right Software
There are a lot of software tools that help you manage and forecast demand for your products. In this blog post, we will cover two of the most common tools.
The first one is Demand Management software. It can help you track the product's history and determine its seasonality. It can also help you forecast demand for the future.
The second one is Inventory Management software. It helps you keep track of your inventory and make sure you always have enough of it.
3 - Collect and Analyze Data
If you track your inventory and sales, you can start using this data to analyze the demand for a product. This can help you determine the best time to purchase inventory and the best places to buy it from.
4 - Create a Demand Forecast
Next, you need to determine the demand for your products. This involves creating a demand forecast for every product or SKU. Demand forecasting works by combining the data from your sales and inventory. You can also use the data from your competitors' websites. You will use this data to create a demand forecast, which will help you predict the future demand for a product.
5 - Manage Your Inventory Properly
This is by far the hardest part. Sometimes, you will end up having way too much inventory or none at all. This is why you need to make sure you have the right inventory management software.
6 - Monitor Your Performance
The last step is to keep your software data up to date, so you can monitor your performance. There are a lot of ways to do this. You should be able to see your sales forecast every day and see whether they match the data from your previous forecasts.
Conclusion
Demand planning is a very important part of eCommerce business management. It can help you create a forecast for the demand for your products and even manage your inventory better. If you are an eCommerce business owner, demand planning is something you should definitely take into consideration.
If you are new to Australian eCommerce, get more facts and advice from The eCommerce Accountant. We have business advisors for online stores and influencers ready to assist you today!
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