Lookback period

The lookback period is how much sales history Stockie uses to work out each variant's sales velocity - its average daily sales.

Every forecast number is built on that velocity, so the lookback period moves your reorder points, suggested reorder quantities, and reorder and stockout dates.

The options

• Last 30 days
• Last 60 days
• Last 90 days
• Last 180 days
• Last 365 days
• Custom date range

New shops start on Last 30 days.

A rolling period moves with you - a 90-day lookback always covers the most recent 90 full days. For a variant created more recently than that, the window starts on the day it was created, so days before it existed do not count.

A custom date range is fixed. You choose a start and end date, and unlike rolling periods, the dates do not move forward over time. Neither date can be in the future. It suits seasonal products, where the same period last year says more about the season ahead than the last few weeks do.

How velocity is calculated

sales velocity = units sold in the lookback period ÷ days the variant was in stock

Days a variant was out of stock are left out, because they are days you could not sell rather than days nobody wanted it. Counting them would make demand look lower than it is.

If a variant is set to keep selling when out of stock, it could sell on every day of the period, so Stockie divides by the full period instead.

If a variant was out of stock for the whole period, there are no days to divide by, and its velocity shows as unavailable.

Example

With a 90-day lookback, a variant sold 450 units and was out of stock for 10 days:

• In-stock days: 90 − 10 = 80
• Sales velocity: 450 ÷ 80 = 5.63 units a day

Counting all 90 days would have given 5 a day.

Shorter or longer

A shorter lookback, such as 30 days:

• Responds quickly to recent changes
• Picks up growth or decline sooner
• Is more sensitive to short-term spikes

A longer lookback, such as 180 days:

• Smooths out short-term ups and downs
• Reflects longer-term patterns
• Is slower to react to a real change

There is no single right setting. A shorter period suits products whose demand is changing, or where you have recently changed pricing or marketing. A longer period suits products with steady demand.

Setting your default lookback period

Go to Forecast & replenishment → Manage settings → Demand  and edit Lookback period.

Lookback periods for individual products

Individual variants can have their own lookback period, set under product & supplier overrides. To return a variant to your store default, tick Clear and use global default in its override.

Lookback periods are set on the store or the variant only - not on suppliers.

For the lookback period alongside demand adjustments, see Configuring demand settings.