Shipment and Consumption Forecasting

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What is Shipment and Consumption Forecasting?

Forecasting involves both a Shipment and Consumption version, which are calculated differently, but must both be managed in real-time to have an understanding of whether the CPG supplier is over or under shipping.

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The Consumption Forecast is generally used for forecasting trade spend, along with feeding inputs into the shipment forecast. It measures the units and dollars sold through the register at the end retailer (both direct or indirect) in a given period of time. Consumption is thought about in stores, velocities, and promotions.

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The Shipment Forecast measures the units and dollars delivered to a distributor or direct customers in a given period of time, and ties directly to Gross Sales. Shipment is thought about in units or cases per week / period/ month.

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Being able to directly manage and edit both forecasts is an essential feature of Confido's forecasting module.

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For instance, when distributors order extra products, brands can adjust general shipment levels (ie. inventory levels, pipefills) without impacting the consumption forecast

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How does it work in Confido?

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The ship-to forecast side rolls up the forecasts from the planning groups. The actuals side is pulled directly from your invoices on the cash application tool.

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Confido supports a buy in delay which allows you to shift your data by a specified amount of time to simulate the timing difference between consumption and shipment data

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