Factors affecting Sales Forecasting

The sales forecasting is affected by many factors. Some of the important factors are as follows:

General Business conditions

The general business and environment conditions such as  economic condition of the country, population, distribution of wealth, general customs and traditions, seasonal fluctuations, fashion, per-capita income, government policies, etc., affects the sale forecasting of the business and industrial enterprise. All these factors are beyond the control of the business enterprise.

Conditions within industry

There are many factors within the industry which affect sales forecasting of an enterprise. The factors such as number of units in the industry, types of the product, characteristics of the product, pricing policy, product line, situation of the competition within the industry, probable improvements in the product, strategies and policies of competitors, etc. These factors must be carefully considered by the marketing manager while preparing sales forecasts for the enterprise.

Internal Factors of the Enterprise

The internal factors such as plant capacity, quality, price, advertisement policy, resources, etc., of the enterprise affect the sales forecasting of the enterprise. These factors can very well be controlled by the business enterprise itself.

Factors affecting export trade

The factors such as import-export policy of the Government, conditions imposed upon the enterprise by its foreign purchasers, international policy, etc., also affect the sales forecasting of the business enterprise. Thus, an expert marketing manager considers all these factors while creating marketing activities.

Factors relating to the competition

A successful marketing manager considers all the factors relating to the competitors in deep before preparing sales forecasting for his business enterprise. The factors that affect sales forecasting of an enterprise may be number of competitors, quality of products of the competitors, stage in the life-cycle of the products of the competitors, advertisement policy of the competitors, popularity of the products of competitors, brand packing, color, etc.,  of the products of the competitors.