- You can find your Amazon Retail Analytics Dashboard by clicking on the “Reports” tab on the top menu of your Vendor Central Dashboard and selecting “Amazon Retail Analytics” from the Drop Down Menu.
- On this next page, you will have an overview of your Retail Analytics Dashboard.
- Click on the "Forecast and Inventory Planning" link from the left side menu.
- Your Forecast and Inventory Planning report on your Amazon Retail Analytics Page indicates how many of each ASIN were ordered in the previous 13 weeks as well as how many of each ASIN Amazon’s forecasting model predicts they will need in the 26 weeks. You also have options to show which types of forecasts Amazon used in their report and download these reports to include in your own forecasting models.
- The Drop Down Menus at the top of the right side of the page will allow you to choose which data you wish to have in your report.
- Your Distributor View options can either be “Sourcing”, which means you are viewing the products you sourced from another party and shipped to Amazon or, “Manufacturing”, which means you are viewing products you shipped from your own manufacturing warehouse.
- Your Sales View options can either by “Ordered Units” which are the units Amazon ordered; or “Shipped Units” which are the actual units you shipped.
- Further Drop Down Menus will be Category, Sub-Category and Brand (if you sell multiple brands).
- Your Reporting Range options can be Daily or Weekly.
6. Your Viewing can then be a variety of options depending which of the Reporting Ranges you selected.
7. Once you have selected your data criteria from these Drop-Down Menus, you would need to select “Apply” in order for the reports below to be updated accordingly.
8. Once you have the selected views in place, you can then opt to Download the various options for reports by clicking on the “Download” button in the top right hand side of the page.
9. Further to this, the graph below the Selection Criteria Drop Down Menus can also be amended to show even further data selection.
- You can include or exclude Ordered Units from your report.
- You can include or exclude Mean Forecast from your report.
- You can include or exclude P70 Forecast from your report.
- You can include or exclude P80 Forecast from your report.
- You can include or exclude P90 Forecast from your report.
- The Table below the graph also allows for further manipulation.
- You can choose to view by ASIN, Subcategories or Categories.
- You can add additional ASIN identifiers for easier reference to your catalog or other internal reports from your own systems.
- And you can select your Forecast Option again here too.
10. Your Forecasting and Inventory Planning Model off of Amazon’s Vendor Central can greatly assist you in forecasting and planning your inventory to supply Amazon and thereby reduce the risk of being unable to supply Amazon with certain ASINs, especially if you are outsourcing your product and rely on it to be shipped by sea or air to your own warehouse from where you ship to Amazon or its customers.
- The Ordered Units shows you what ASINs were ordered in the past and can give you an overview of a trend when compiled over several months to a year, for example, you may find that the red version of one of your products tends to sell better over the festive season whereas throughout the rest of the year it doesn’t seem to do well at all. You can then know to build in a seasonality percentage into your forecasting and planning model for that ASIN.
- The Mean Forecast is Amazon’s best estimate of customer demand for each particular ASIN and is probably the forecast you would most likely use in your own forecasting model, especially if you are using Amazon’s forecasting report for the first time.
- The P70 forecast is Amazon’s estimate of a 70% probability that the customer demand will be at or below this value. This is an important option to look at as it will most likely apply more strongly to your slow moving ASINs in your planning and forecasting model.
- The P80 forecast is Amazon’s estimate of a 80% probability that the customer demand will be at or below this value. This is an important option to look at as it will most likely apply more strongly to your consistently moving ASINs in your planning and forecasting model that rarely tend to dip or spike at all.
- The P90 forecast is Amazon’s estimate of a 90% probability that the customer demand will be at or below this value. This is an important option to look at as it will most likely apply more strongly to your fast moving ASINs in your planning and forecasting model that are most sought after by consumers.
11. The forecasting model that Amazon provides can offer you an indepth look at each one of your ASINs as they perform on Amazon and can provide you with vital intel as to how consumers engage with your brand overall as well as each individual ASIN, thus assisting you to better plan your inventory holding for Amazon sales specifically, and greater alleviate shortages or unfulfilled units to Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers.