Sales and stock forecasting
Models that forecast demand from your own history and help decide how much to order: fewer stockouts, less capital tied up in inventory.
- Domain
- AI applied to the business
- Complexity
- High
- Typical timeline
- 6 to 10 weeks
Sales and stock forecasting uses the company's own sales history to anticipate demand and guide ordering, so you hold the right product at the right time, without excess sitting idle in the warehouse.
What it is
Models that learn from your past sales (seasonality, trends, patterns by product) and project demand for the weeks ahead. That projection turns into practical purchasing guidance: what to order, how much, and when. Instead of deciding from memory or a spreadsheet alone, the team decides with a grounded estimate.
Where it pays off
It makes sense in retail and distribution, where stockouts cost sales and excess ties up capital. It helps reduce shortages on your fastest-moving items, avoid building up slow sellers, and plan purchases further ahead. The more product references you carry and the more irregular the demand, the more value there is in a forecast the team cannot produce by hand.
How we build it
We start with the history the company already has and the way it decides orders today. We prepare the data, build and validate the model against real sales, and present the forecast in a way the team can actually use day to day, not a closed box. Where it helps, we connect it to the ERP or management system in use, and refine it as more data comes in.
Frequently asked questions
How much data do I need to have?
As a rule of thumb, two years of history gives a useful forecast; one year gives a forecast with far more uncertainty. Before building, we look at what exists and say frankly whether it can be forecast or not.
Will the forecast be right?
No forecast is right. What a good forecast does is be wrong less often than the estimate being made today, and say by how much it might be wrong. That is why we always show the range and not just the number.
Does it decide purchasing on its own?
No. It proposes, and the purchase belongs to whoever signs it. A forecast that orders on its own is the fastest way to turn a model error into a full warehouse.
Investment in AI and automation may be eligible for public support in Portugal, subject to the calls in force. We don't handle applications and we're not a funding intermediary.