Feeding the Forecast into my Ordering and Replenishment System

The ClarityRetail forecast report is typically delivered as a PDF file. However, options exist to deliver it in other formats, such as flat ASCII or XML files, conducive for use with other systems.  The raw forecast information contained in these files will enable sorting of data by store, date and UPC.  You can import this data into a database of your choice, after which a variety of methods are available to feed it to your ordering and replenishment systems.  The method you choose will be dependent on your systems and how they accept and process data.  If this is a desirable option, please inform ClarityRetail of your interest and we will provide sample files so you can validate compatibility with your other replenishment systems.

Since our forecasts are based on retail products only, your replenishment system will need to be able to transform retail level demand into order level demand using the order code. In most cases, depending on the type of product in question, this transformation involves simply converting demand quantities into pack size quantities. For example, a product delivered from your supplier with 12 packs per box and a ClarityRetail forecast of 48 units on a given day will have an order quantity of 4 boxes for that day.

Another requirement for your replenishment system is the ability to consolidate demand for a given product that has more than one UPC associated with it. For example, some products may use a UPC for promotional purposes at various times of year which differs from the one used for standard packaging. This means demand forecasts calculated for one version of the UPC must be merged with the demand from another UPC for the same product to get the complete picture of demand for the orderable unit.

Additionally, if you wish to derive aggregate demand for a group of stores, your replenishment system can take the raw ClarityRetail forecast data by store and use it to calculate a regional or divisional level demand.  This enables you to compute the aggregate demand for the product for supplier level ordering.

If taking retail product demand and converting it into demand assessments at an ordering level is of interest to your organization, then ClarityRetail has options to help you achieve that objective.