Measuring and Forecasting Market Demand

Forecasting and Demand Measurement

One

major reason for undertaken market research is to identify market opportunities. Once the research is complete, the company must measure and forecast the size, growth and profit potential of each market opportunity. Forecast is fundamental to planning . Forecasts are statements about future, specifying the volume of sales to be achieved and equipment, materials and other inputs needed to realize the expected sales. A popular definitions of forecasting is that , It is estimating the future demand for products and services and the resources necessary to produce the outputs .

 Sales Forecast prepared by the marketing department is required by the:

Finance Department to raise the needed cash for investment and operations. Manufacturing Department to establish capacity and output levels. Purchasing Department to acquire the right amount of supplies Human Resources Department to hire the needed numbers of workers.

Market Demand
Market demand for a product is the total volume that would be bought ...
by a defined customer group in a defined geographical area in a defined time period in a defined marketing environment under a defined marketing program

Measures of Market Demand

Companies can prepare as many as 90 different types of demand estimates for six different product levels, five space levels, and three time periods. Each demand measure serves a specific purpose.

 A company might forecast short run demand for a particular product for the purpose of ordering materials, planning production, and borrowing cash. It might forecast regional demand for its major product line to decide whether to set up regional distribution.

Ninety Types Of Demand Measurement

World Country Region Territory Customer

Space level

Product level

All sales Industry sales Company sales Product line sales Product form sales Product item sales

Short run

Medium run

Long run

Time level

Which Market To Measure?

Forecasts also depend on which type of market is being considered. The size of a market hinges on the number of buyers who might exist for a particular market offer. But there are many productive ways to break down the market

Potential Market Market Target Market

Available Market

Penetrated market

 The Potential Market- is the set of consumers who profess a sufficient level of interest in a market offer. Consumer interest is not enough to define a market. Potential consumers must have enough income and must have access to the product .

 The available market - is a set of consumers who have interest ,income and access to a particular offer .For some market offers, the company or government may restrict sales to certain groups. For example, a particular state might ban motorcycle sales to anyone under 21 years of age. Eligible adults constitue the qualified available market -the set of consumer who are eligible adults and who have interest , income, access and qualifications for the particulars market offer

The target Market - is the part of the qualified available market the company decides to pursue. The company might decide to concentrate its marketing and distribution effort on one region. The company will end up selling to a certain numbers of buyers in its target market.

 The penetrated market is the set of consumers who are buying the companys product. There are numbers of actions to be taken to increase the current sales volumes: o Attract a larger percentage of buyers from its target market. o Lower the qualification for potential customers. o Expand its available market. o Lowering prices.

These definitions are a useful tool for market planning. If the company is not satisfied with its current sales, it can take a number of actions. It can try to attract larger percentage of buyers from its target market. It can lower the qualifications for potential buyers. It can expand its available market by opening distribution elsewhere or lowering its price; or it can reposition itself in the minds of its customers.

Market Demand Function

Definition Market demand is not a fixed number, but rather a function of the stated conditions: 1. For this reason, we can call it the market demand function. 2. Some base sales-also called the market minimum 3. The distance between the market minimum and the market potential shows the overall marketing sensitivity of demand.

 Higher levels of industry marketing expenditures would yield higher levels of demand, first at an increasing rate, then at a decreasing rate. Marketing expenditures beyond a certain level would not stimulate much further demand, thus suggesting n upper limit to market demand, called the market potential. An expansible market is very much affected in size by the level of industry marketing expenditures whereas in the case of non-expansible market it is vice versa.

Market Demand Function

Market Demand in the Specific Period

Q2

QF

Industry Marketing Expenditure

Market Penetration Index

Comparison between the current and potential levels of market demand is called the market penetration index. Low High - Substantial growth potential - Expensive to attract the for all the firms few remaining prospect - Price competition increases and margins fall

Share Penetration Index

A company should also compare its current and potential market shares, called share penetration index. - A low share-penetration index indicates that the company can greatly expand its share. - A firm should calculate the share penetration increases that would occur to see which investments would produce the greatest improvement in share penetration.

 Market Forecast Only one level of industry marketing expenditure will actually occur. The market demand corresponding to this level is called the market forecast.

Company Demand
Company demand is the companys estimated share of market demand at alternative levels of company marketing effort in a given time period. The companys share of market demand depends on how its products, prices, communications and services are perceived relative to the competitors. Keeping all things equal, the companys market share will depend on the relative scale and effectiveness of its market expenditure.

Company Sales Forecast

The company sales forecast is the expected level of company sales based on a chosen marketing plan and an assumed marketing environment. The company sales forecast does not establish a basis for deciding what to spend on marketing. It is the result of an assumed marketing expenditure plan. A sales quota is the sales goal set for a product line, company division, or sales representative.

 A sales budget is a conservative estimate of the expected volume of sales and is used primarily for making current purchasing, production, and cash flow decisions. Sales budget is based on the sales forecast and its slightly lower than the sales forecast.

Company Sales Potential

It is the sales limit approached by company demand as company marketing effort increases relative to that of competitors. The absolute limit of company demand is the market potential. The two would be equal if the company capture 100% of the market. It is impossible for the company to capture the entire market. However, company sales potential is always less than the market potential even when company marketing expenditure increases considerably.