Collaborative fashion forecasting: Integrating demand and supply-chain forecasting into the fashion industry

The fashion industry is known for its complex supply-chain systems involving multiple actors and producing trend-sensitive items that are often seasonal or have short product life cycles. Incorrect forecasting can have a direct influence not only on financial losses due to overstocking or understocking but also on the increasing environmental impact of unsold stock, consumer returns and dead stock. It is imperative that forecasters effectively capture consumer demand and expectations to facilitate effective inventory and waste management as well as circular fashion practices. This chapter aims to examine how different actors in the fashion supply chain are involved in the complex fashion system and how this system works in relation to the fashion forecasting timeline. The chapter discusses the challenges of the current supply and demand forecasting process, the role of forecasters in guiding a business's strategic direction and the importance of understanding consumer segmentation for fashion trend forecasting. Finally, the chapter reviews how forecasters support multiple stakeholders in the fashion system, including design, production, buying, merchandising, marketing and sales teams.