Why & how to trend forecast for your Bridal Business
Have you ever wondered exactly what trend forecasting is and why it’s important for your business?
(Spoiler alert: it's more than just what's popular on Instagram!)
In today’s blog, Marissa explains what it is, why it is important, how to do your own forecasting, and some tips.
Let's dive in.
Why Forecast?
Overall, trend forecasting is the process of researching and forming predictions on future buying habits.
There's long-term forecasting, which is going to help predict macro-trends as a society across various categories and areas of business.
There's short-term forecasting, which is going to help predict seasonal aesthetic trends within the next 6 to 12 months.
It is important because it is going to help your bridal businesses from spending time and money on products that may not be successful within their target audience.
Instead, you're going to then focus on products that meet all of the wants and needs of your customer and what they're actually going to buy from you. So you can make money by understanding consumer shifts and product predictions.
How to Forecast
The first thing you have to do is identify your past trends.
Look at historical data within your sales and say, what is maybe something that's growing in popularity? What was popular that's maybe now declining or down-trending in your business?
Then from there, you can start looking for patterns in that data. But, make sure that you assess the difference between the past trend forecasts you've done and your actual behavior.
So ask yourself, what were the top trends that you saw and maybe bought into, and how did they sell? Just because a designer predicts a top-selling style or consumer actions based on a certain trend, it doesn't always mean it's going to happen.
Then from all of these things of trend forecasting, you'll then be able to create a buy plan and a new forecast for your upcoming season.
Tips
Two quick tips to consider and think about as you do your own trend forecasting.
React quickly and be ready to adjust. No matter how much time or energy we put into forecasting, no prediction is ever going to be perfect.
Pay attention to shared opinions. Trends can occur because of a poster or video going viral on social media. Pay attention to what opinions and preferences your customer is seeing or even what girls are coming into the store asking for. See what is applicable to your business and see how you can quickly profit from it right now.
Inventory System
If you are looking for a resource to help you with your own trend forecasting with the tools you need to see your own historical data to form your own patterns in a done-for-you system, check out Marissa's Inventory Management Course.
Giving you the exact same training we use to help our clients grow by 6-figures, time & time again, this is a complete Inventory Management System for Bridal Stores to give owners the tools to access all sales & inventory data necessary to manage their business.