Downstream Demand Signals for New Products

This column discusses the value that can be gotten from using a variety of downstream demand signals for new product forecasting and monitoring. These demand signals can be drawn from three levels along a supply chain: The Wholesale, Retail, and Consumer Levels. Their usefulness is discussed in terms of being able to support a Trial-Repeat Rate forecast model, as well as for gleaning information to help support decisions that might be made to improve a new product’s sales performance.. LARRY LAPIDE | Dr. Lapide is a Research Aliate at MIT and a Lecturer at the University of Massachusetts, Boston Campus. He has extensive experience in industry, consulting, business research, and academia as well as a broad range of forecasting experiences. He was an industry forecaster for many years, has led forecasting-related consulting projects for clients across a variety of industries, and has researched as well as taught forecasting. He was also a market analyst researching forecasting, planning, and supply chain software. He is the rst recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Business Forecasting & Planning Award bestowed by the IBF in 2012. (This is an ongoing column in The Journal, ...