Survey: just 39% of warehouse operators could predict holiday season trends

Half of warehouse operators struggle to forecast demand heading into 2023, according to market research from the wearable barcode scanner vendor ProGlove.

Forecasting demand is one of the cornerstones of successful warehouse management, but a logistics sector survey by ProGlove found that only 39% of respondents felt they could accurately predict trends and activity for the holiday season. And fully 51% of respondents stated that forecasting demand was their biggest inventory management concern.

That lack of predictable demand leaves organizations vulnerable to stock surpluses or shortfalls, especially in the volatile conditions of 2022 and 2023. Among other challenges, ProGlove cited the war in Ukraine, inflationary pressures, and the impact of the Covid outbreak in China on global supply chains. 

And logistics professionals expect that turmoil to continue, with less than 2 in 5 respondents (38%) saying they expect supply chain issues to be largely resolved next year.

In response, ProGlove said that organizations need to look at their internal operations and focus on what they can control, instead of focusing on the external factors they can’t control.

“The findings in our survey confirm what has been self-evident to those in the warehousing and logistics industry for a few years. External factors are wreaking havoc on the ability of businesses to predict demand and prepare for new challenges,” Ilhan Kolko, CPO of ProGlove, said in a release. “Organizations need to focus on building agile and efficient processes through data-driven insights into the internal workings of the shop floor. Building certainty in the warehouse protects from uncertainty outside of it.”