Tactics on Inventory Projections (2,242 words)

Hammond: We use past performance indicators. They're strong guidelines for us. For example, if we're considering a piece of jewelry, we'll look at past sales of our jewelry category and any other related product sales.

But in reality, it really comes down to gut, especially for a new item or category. That's why I haven't handed over this task to anyone else, because a lot of this information is here between my ears. To be a great inventory forecaster you also must have a deep knowledge of the past and be very familiar with sales history. Knowing what has sold well in the past is a good indicator of what will sell in the future.