SAS^® Demand Forecasting for Retail

Retail organizations today must strive to satisfy the unique demand for each of their customers. Gone are the days of the mass market where a single assortment, standard pricing and a single "average location" forecast would satisfy consumer demand in all stores. To be effective, forecasts today must account for demand differences across all stores, geographies and product lines.

Increased pressure on profit margins is forcing retailers to focus on better understanding the demand for merchandise throughout the product life cycle. Demand forecasting is also needed to address the profit pressure and better understand how to maximize profits through better planning, fewer stock-outs, improved margins and more solid overall business results.

Effective forecasting in this environment requires sophisticated capabilities delivered via a highly automated solution.

Accurate demand forecasts
SAS Demand Forecasting for Retail uses SAS' unique high-performance forecasting engine to automatically diagnose, model, execute and reconcile forecasts across multiple merchandise levels and locations. It allows creation of forecast projects and manages forecasts with a built-in forecast repository and versioning system. SAS Demand Forecasting for Retail produces results at any level of the product and location hierarchies down to the SKU/store level. The SAS solution provides:

• Highly accurate forecasts – SAS provides the most robust library of models in the retail software industry that generates forecasts based on underlying trend, seasonality promotions, inventory effects and other known causal factors. Proprietary "best pick" functionality automates model selection.
• Faster implementation – A retail-specific data model and workflow that provide enhanced usability.
• Business-driven results – By seamlessly integrating with existing planning processes, SAS Demand Forecasting for Retail helps identify opportunities and improve profitability.
• Softlines ready – Includes models for fashion forecasting, short lifecycle products and intermittent demand; leverages SAS Merchandise Assortment Planning for fashion forecasting workflow.
• High scalability – Supports the entire organization down to the individual store SKU level for all types of retailers.
• Reduced workload – Automated exception-based forecast management reduces the need for manual inputs and forecast updates.

SAS^® Demand Forecasting for Retail
Statistically sound demand forecasts serve as the foundation for all levels of merchandise planning. SAS Demand Forecasting for Retail provides the foresight your organization needs to survive in an increasingly consumer-driven economy. SAS' solution adapts to your business – not the other way around. With the combined SAS Integrated Merchandise Planning and SAS Merchandise Assortment Planning solutions, planners are able to build merchandise, financial and assortment plans that better anticipate consumer demand, all in a centralized platform.