Slow and Intermittent products comprise 35-40% of most
retailer assortments. These products are often critical to the assortment because a top 20% product is frequently paired with a selection from an assortment of slow-demand product choices. When managed incorrectly, this large group of products in your assortment can ruin your turn goals and your GMROI.. Two key pieces must work together for a retailer to win with slow movers: the
demand forecast and
how the supply chain software uses the demand forecast to manage the inventory. Further, the results of poor buying are low turns and loss of capital for other product.
Slow and Intermittent Product Demand Forecasting Myths
“How do you forecast slow and intermittent demand products?” I received the same question in three different meetings at NRF this year. Many software companies differentiate their demand forecast capability from their competition by highlighting their skill in forecasting slow and intermittent product demand; simultaneously, they strike fear into the hearts of retailers by highlighting retail losses delivered due to poor
demand forecasting of slow-moving products. The key to this discussion is to not get trapped into a no-win conclusion. However, it takes More than a great Demand Forecast to attain winning results with these product groups. Like the story of the
‘Tortoise and the Hare’, Slow demand products are part of any assortment and can be big winners.
