SAS Retail Forecasting will help retailers predict demand and shape consumer response across a marketing-driven, multichannel retail enterprise. It analyzes consumer response to price, promotion, marketing and operational activity to assess impact on demand. In addition to price and promotion, SAS can also assess cannibalization and halo effects, and causes for lost sales, as well as forecast new product sales.
 

"Analytics are essential today for retailers to remain competitive," says Diana McHenry, SAS' global retail marketing manager. "Forecasting, whether done well or done poorly, is the foundation of retail business operations. With SAS, retailers gain over 35 years of predictive analytics and forecasting expertise to drive better customer understanding, engagement and results." 
 

"S Group tends to gain the best customer satisfaction scores among Finnish grocery retailers," says Sanna Timola, director, space management and forecasting at SOK Grocery Trade Chain Management. "To maintain and improve our customer satisfaction, we need to ensure shelf availability continuously. At the same time, we have to improve supply chain productivity. The most important processes are store replenishment, procurement and retail pricing. The best results can be achieved by sharing sales forecasts between business partners within the value chain and building transparency in the trading ecosystem. Implementing SAS Retail Forecasting will be one of the most important and challenging development programs we have ever started." 
 

The announcement came at The Premier Business Leadership Series event in Antwerp, Belgium, a business conference presented by SAS that brings together more than 600 attendees from the public and private sectors to share ideas on critical business issues.