Order & return quantities forecast for a fashion retailer

The rapidly increasing importance of online trade presents logistics service providers with increasing challenges in terms of warehouse and delivery planning.

Challenge

Mode Logistik GmbH & Co. KG operates the entire logistics of the fashion retailer Peek & Cloppenburg KG based in Düsseldorf. In addition to retail logistics, Mode Logistik is also responsible for the online retail warehouses of Fashion ID GmbH & Co. KG.

The fashion retailer's online trade is very dynamic and presents the logistics service provider with a major challenge in warehouse and delivery planning. It is also becoming increasingly important for consumers. For better planning of e-commerce logistics, forecasts of orders and returns in online retail were made.

Approach

A variety of data sources were investigated to forecast future orders and returns. In addition to past order and return quantities and inventories, well-known data on marketing campaigns and holidays are included in the calculation. For modelling, various forecasting methods were tested and assessed in terms of their quality.

In order to include the employee's expert knowledge in addition to the above data, employees can create their own attributes via a graphical interface and incorporate them into the analysis.

Opshot

The order and return forecasts significantly simplify the customer's capacity planning. With the tool provided, forecasts can be made at the push of a button and optimally incorporated into everyday working life.