Skip to main content

Replenishment Intelligence: Demand Signals

What are Demand Signals?​

Demand Signals are the forward-looking layer of Replenishment Intelligence. They answer:

"How much of this item will sell, where, over the coming weeks?"

Demand Signals come from the forecasting engine and become the baseline need that every reorder quantity starts from. Without a credible forward demand number, replenishment is just reacting to the past.

What the business user sees​

  • 26-week demand forecast - projected units for each product over the next 26 weeks, the planning horizon used for ordering decisions.
  • Projected revenue - the forecasted dollar value of that demand, so prioritization is by business impact, not just unit count.
  • Forecast accuracy - a measured quality score for the forecast, so the user knows how much to trust each number.
  • High-confidence coverage - how many SKUs are forecast with high confidence versus those that need a closer look.
  • New product introductions (NPI) - newly launched items that have little or no sales history and are handled with special care.

Demand segmentation​

Not every product behaves the same way, so Demand Signals are segmented before they drive replenishment:

  • Demand segments group products by how predictable and how fast-moving they are.
  • Performance tiers separate high-volume drivers from the long tail.

This segmentation lets the business user filter the reorder plan down to the products that matter most to them - for example, high-volume, high-confidence items first.

How Demand Signals drive replenishment​

  1. The forecast establishes expected demand per item over the planning horizon.
  2. That demand is converted into a baseline reorder need.
  3. The need is then adjusted by Store Signals (see next tab) for store-level risk before a final PO quantity is produced.

In other words: Demand Signals say how much you will need; Store Signals say where reality is diverging from plan; together they produce what to actually order.

Why it matters for business​

  • Reorders are anchored to future demand, not last week's sales.
  • Prioritization is by forecasted revenue, so attention goes where the money is.
  • A visible accuracy score keeps the system honest and builds trust.
  • NPI items are flagged so they are not under-ordered just because they lack history.

For the modeling detail behind these signals, see the Forecasting documentation under Demand AI. This tab focuses on how the forecast is used inside replenishment.