Configuring demand forecasting settings

🔒 Pro plan feature

The settings covered in this article are part of Stockie’s inventory forecasting features and are only available on the Pro plan.

Stockie’s demand forecasting engine uses your historical sales data to calculate sales velocity (average daily sales) and forecast future demand. These settings control how that demand is calculated and allow you to fine-tune forecasts based on seasonality, growth, or decline.

Where to find these settings

In your Stockie app, go to:

Forecasting → Manage settings

On this page, you’ll see the Demand setting defaults card. This is where you configure how Stockie calculates demand across your store.

Default demand settings

These settings apply to all variants by default, unless you choose to override them for specific products or suppliers.

Setting	Description	Example
Lookback period	Controls how much historical sales data Stockie uses to calculate sales velocity. You can choose rolling periods (e.g. last 30, 60, 90 days) or a fixed custom date range for seasonal analysis. Shorter periods react faster to recent changes; longer periods smooth out fluctuations.	Use Last 60 days for ongoing products, or set a custom date range (Oct–Dec last year) to forecast seasonal holiday demand.
Demand adjustment (%)	Manually increases or decreases calculated demand based on expected future changes. Applied after sales velocity is calculated.	Apply +20% if you expect increased demand from a promotion or growth trend.
Demand calculation method	Determines whether demand is calculated across all locations combined, or separately per location.	Use Combined across all locations if you reorder inventory centrally.

💡 Tip: These settings can be used together — for example, using a seasonal lookback period and applying a demand adjustment to account for year-over-year growth.

Lookback period

The lookback period determines how much historical sales data Stockie uses when calculating sales velocity.

You can choose from:

Rolling periods (e.g. last 30, 60, or 90 days)
Custom date ranges

Rolling periods

Best for:

Ongoing, non-seasonal products
Products where recent trends matter most

Shorter periods:

React faster to recent changes in demand
Useful for fast-moving or trend-driven items

Longer periods:

Smooth out short-term fluctuations
Useful for stable products with consistent sales

Custom date range

Custom date ranges let you define a fixed start and end date for demand calculations.

This is especially useful for:

Seasonal products
Forecasting based on the same period last year
Excluding unusual sales spikes (e.g. promos or one-off events)

💡 Example: If you sell seasonal products and want to forecast for summer, you might set a custom date range covering last summer’s sales period instead of using recent months.

Note: Custom date ranges are fixed. Unlike rolling periods, they do not automatically move forward over time.

Demand adjustment (%)

The demand adjustment lets you manually increase or decrease Stockie’s calculated sales velocity based on what you expect to happen next.

You can:

Increase demand (e.g. +20%) if you expect growth
Decrease demand (e.g. −15%) if you expect slower sales

This adjustment is applied after Stockie calculates sales velocity from your lookback period.

Common use cases:

Planning for upcoming promotions
Accounting for marketing spend increases or decreases
Adjusting for known growth or decline trends

💡 Example: If Stockie calculates average sales of 10 units/day and you apply a +20% demand adjustment, Stockie will forecast demand as 12 units/day.

Demand adjustments can be used:

On their own
Together with rolling or custom lookback periods

Demand calculation method

This setting controls how Stockie calculates demand when you have inventory in more than one location.

Combined across all locations

This method adds up sales from all of your locations for each variant and uses the combined total to calculate sales velocity.

Use this if:

You reorder centrally for all locations
Your purchasing is managed as a single pool

💡 Example: If Location A sold 20 units in the last 30 days and Location B sold 5, Stockie will treat demand as 25 units total.

Separate per location

This method calculates demand independently for each location, based on which location fulfilled each order.

Use this if:

You reorder inventory separately per location
You want different reorder points or quantities per location
You manage wholesale and retail locations with different demand patterns

💡 Example: If Location A sells 20 units and Location B sells 10, Stockie will forecast demand separately for each location rather than combining them.

Note: Because Shopify only records a fulfillment location after an order is fulfilled, Stockie can only attribute demand to a location once the order has been fulfilled.

This means unfulfilled orders do not count toward demand for any location.

Demand setting overrides (per-product)

If certain products behave differently, you can override demand settings for specific products or suppliers.

How to set up overrides

At the bottom of the Demand setting defaults card, click Set up
This opens the Demand setting overrides table
For each variant, you can override:
- Lookback period (including custom date ranges)
- Demand adjustment %

If a field is left empty for a variant, Stockie will fall back to your default setting.

How these settings affect forecasting

These settings directly influence your:

Sales velocity (average daily sales)
Reorder points
Suggested reorder quantities
Smart Mode notifications

Choosing the right configuration ensures that Stockie generates accurate reorder recommendations based on how demand truly behaves in your business.

Tips for choosing the right settings

If your reorder decisions are made centrally, use Combined across all locations.
If each location receives and manages its own inventory, choose Separate per location.
If your sales fluctuate frequently, consider a shorter look-back period.
For stable products, a longer look-back period may produce smoother forecasts.

If you need help choosing which settings are best for your workflow, reach out and we’ll be happy to guide you!