FACTORS AFFECTING FORECASTING

Demand forecasting is a proactive process that helps in determining what products are needed where, when, and in what quantities. There are a number of factors that affect demand forecasting.

Some of the factors that influence demand forecasting are shown in Figure-2:

• Types of Goods:
  Affect the demand forecasting process to a larger extent. Goods can be producer‘s goods, consumer goods, or services. Apart from this, goods can be established and new goods. Established goods are those goods which already exist in the market, whereas new goods are those which are yet to be introduced in the market. Information regarding the demand, substitutes and level of competition of goods is known only in case of established goods. On the other hand, it is difficult to forecast demand for the new goods. Therefore, forecasting is different for different types of goods.
• Competition Level:
  Influence the process of demand forecasting. In a highly competitive market, demand for products also depend on the number of competitors existing in the market. Moreover, in a highly competitive market, there is always a risk of new entrants. In such a case, demand forecasting becomes difficult and challenging.
• Price of Goods:
  Acts as a major factor that influences the demand forecasting process. The demand forecasts of organizations are highly affected by change in their pricing policies. In such a scenario, it is difficult to estimate the exact demand of products.
• Level of Technology:
  Constitutes an important factor in obtaining reliable demand forecasts. If there is a rapid change in technology, the existing technology or products may become obsolete. For example, there is a high decline in the demand of floppy disks with the introduction of compact disks (CDs) and pen drives for saving data in computer. In such a case, it is difficult to forecast demand for existing products in future.
• Economic Viewpoint:
  Play a crucial role in obtaining demand forecasts. For example, if there is a positive development in an economy, such as globalization and high level of investment, the demand forecasts of organizations would also be positive.

Apart from aforementioned factors, following are some of the other important factors that influence demand forecasting:

Time Period of Forecasts:
Act as a crucial factor that affect demand forecasting. The accuracy of demand forecasting depends on its time period.