Marketing forecasting is important so that a demand is met with an adequate supply. I used to work in a daily printed newspaper, which required a daily forecasting for potential sales. In this capacity, I reviewed different types of reports to forecast the needed quantity the market would need the following day. The market potential (maximum sales) is determined by the distribution company, which distributes all the printed publications issued in Saudi Arabia. The second step to determine the amount of sales can be achieved for the printed newspapers is known as a Market Forecast. This amount of sales also can be affected by the news and reports published within the paper. A good example would be noteworthy sport games or political issues.
Last but certainly not least, forecasting potential sales for our brand was calculated through both primary and secondary sources of data. As a newspaper, we valued the secondary data of market research, because it was important to rely on the past sales data. To forecast future sales, we compared the sales numbers achieved from the day before, the same day of the previous week and the same day from the last year. We used the average of those numbers and this gave us a good idea of how many sales could be achieved for the next day In the book, we see the example of disposable diapers example to calculate the market potential. I did calculate the market and sales potential or newspapers once. It was not easy because. Some of the information required using one’s judgment.
To calculate it, I divided the society between male and female and then counted the age range of them. Usually our readers were between 25-65 years males and 30-50 years females. Then, I counted the census of each category on each geographical area with consideration of the competition factors. In addition, I read the facts about society, such as educated people and non-educated people, and the percentage of people who do not desire to read newspapers. Finally, I add these numbers together and divide it by three (the number of readers for each copy), then I get a market potential. This was the calculation that gave us the maximum sales of newspapers can be attained within a specified period of time and locations.
