Accurately Forecast Demand With 8 Cogsy Integrations

Real-time forecasts are the best way to manage a turbulent supply chains. But accurately projecting DTC demand wasn’t easy… until now.

There’s big business in predicting the future. And I’m not talking about the $2.2B fortune-telling industry.

Every year, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands spend eye-watering amounts – hours and dollars – trying to forecast future demand. Then, they use those projections to adapt to changes caused by the most recent DTC trends and prepare their business for the upcoming opportunities.

The more you improve inventory accuracy and predictions, the easier it will be to capitalize on this demand by maintaining. But today’s record number of stockouts proves that few brands can actually predict the future.

Shuffle unreliable supply chains and unprecedented consumer trends into the cards, and retailers are operating on uncertainty. And they’re missing out on massive growth opportunities as a result.

That’s why Cogsy has partnered with nine top ops tools (including Cin7 Omni, ShipBob, and Extensiv Order Manager) to turn demand forecasting into an exact science and provide the clarity you need to unlock future growth.

🔥 Did we not mention the ops tool your brand uses? Check out all of Cogsy’s integration partners.

Accurate demand forecasts you can rely on

Accurately predicting demand is impossible without real-time information. But traditional forecasting methods rely on manually updating spreadsheets with data that’s already outdated. The result is a static, shot in the dark prediction that can be off by three units or 300–you won’t know until after you’ve received your purchase order (PO).

Luckily, what used to be a wild guess is now a highly educated hypothesis. With Cogsy’s demand forecasting tool, you can project customer demand with pinpoint accuracy.

How? By layering past sales history, current inventory levels, and real-time trends. That way, your forecast automatically updates as new information becomes available, making the final projection increasingly more accurate.

With demand forecasts in Cogsy, you can:

• Get deeper insights into your inventory trends by leveraging a single source of truth
• Visualize future demand so you know exactly how much to order at what time
• Increase brand loyalty by always having the products customers want on-hand
• Plan for future growth and free up the working capital needed to make those plans a reality
• Protect your revenue stream when the unpredictable happens by selling on backorder
• Forecast demand for a new product based on historical sales data

Gain complete visibility into your operations

Stop interpreting scattered scraps of data. By syncing with Cin7 Omni, ShipBob, or whatever other ops tool you use, Cogsy automatically pulls all your inventory data (like sales history, purchase orders, and product information) into a single source of truth. With it, you get a 360º real-time view of what’s happening with your DTC operations, so you can make better, faster, more informed decisions.

But you don’t have to waste time babysitting this data source. Cogsy’s predictive intelligence keeps a 24/7 eye on your data and identifies trends long before a human analyst could spot them. Then, it filters this knowledge into your forecasts, giving you plenty of time to build an operational plan.

Turn inventory trends into timely actions

Often, brands stay stagnant because they stock up too early or too late. Both options unnecessarily tie up working capital that could otherwise be invested in more profitable growth initiatives. So, Cogsy calculates the perfect moment to submit a purchase order, keeping tied-up capital to a minimum (which you can do in seconds with Cogsy’s purchase order template). Then, it sends you a replenish alert when you’re in that window.

Plus, Cogsy will draft up a purchase order (PO) that includes all the products you need and in what quantities in order to speed up the inventory replenishing process. All you have to do is review the PO and hit “submit.” And any changes you make will automatically sync to your Cogsy forecasts, further increasing their accuracy over time.

Effortlessly manage the unpredictable

Not everything can be predicted–the pandemic and related fluctuating demand are proof of this. But with accurate forecasts, you’re prepared to protect your bottom line from the unexpected.

Cogsy analyzes what’s happening to your inventory as it happens and updates your forecasts accordingly. So, you’ll know how your operational plans should pivot to avoid the stockout in real-time. And you should already have a healthy amount of safety stock built-up (thanks to your optimized POs) to manage the interim.

But say the worst-case scenario still happens, and you go out of stock. Don’t sweat it–with Cogsy, you can sell on backorder until your next order arrives. That way, your brand has predictable income even when you don’t have product available to sell. And we’ll track the stockout alongside your sales history to add color to data and ensure the event doesn’t throw off future forecasts.

Ready to see your future demand?

Know what the future holds for your DTC brand with Cogsy forecasts. To start forecasting, sync the ops tools you already use under “Integrations” in your Cogsy settings. We’ll pull your data and begin building your first forecast immediately, so you can finally have the clarity you need to grow your brand!

New to Cogsy? Try it free for 14 days.