Forecasting Future Sales

Abstract

The size and complexity of the marketing task in all kinds of enterprise has substantially increased in recent years. The growing diversity of customer needs in a rapidly changing environment has resulted in shorter product life-cycles. Distribution patterns have changed dramatically in most markets, and have been complicated by the geographical dispersion of operations and the growing internationalisation and scale of businesses. In addition, the socio-cultural, legal and political environments in which managers have to operate have become more volatile and the volume of data and information available has mushroomed. Added to this is the ever-present difficulty of measuring the behavioural aspects such as organisational and psychological influences which impact on marketing decisions.