Recently completed a major Demand Planning engagement, and when I looked for a comprehensive list of 'what' could impact the Demand, couldn't find anything. Built out a list myself, and then scrubbed out the client information (you can see attach rate, for electronics, but rest should be generic to any industry). If you can find anything I missed, please let me know, was I wanted to get everything and then put them into a structure for others doing this kind of work.

1. 1Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
Demand Factors
Comprehensive List &
Discussion
ClientCo Demand Curves
This deck was from a deliverable to an eCommerce based retail company, and client related discussion
was taken out. Apologize for it not reading smoothly in some places, but sought out a list of Demand
Factors, and didn’t find anything on net with this information, so decided to write it up and share.)

2. 2Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
The primary factors impacting Demand can be thought of with respect
to the 5 segments below, each encompassing a variety of areas.
ClientCo Data Segments
# Factor Group Major Areas Explanation
A Company
• Historical data
• Pricing decisions
• New product launches
• Brand image/strength
All internal data and decisions possibly
affecting demand, some which will allow
for changes to drive optimization, fall in
this group.
B
Industry &
Customers
• Industry trends
• Customer industry
• Consumer preferences
• Buying behavior
The focus here is what is going on in the
industry or categories, along with every
level of customer (e.g. Retailers), and the
specifics of Users/Buyers & preferences.
C Geographic
• Macroeconomic
• Trade
• Regulatory
• Cultural
All factors related to the physical location
of the customers, from financial issues, to
trade restrictions (if any) and regulatory at
all levels. Culture also is included here.
D
Competition &
Suppliers
• Competitive products
• New competitors
• Pricing
• Supply/material costs
Competitive environment is the primary
focus here, and Suppliers was just added
in as developments here could affect both
they, and the company as well.
E Additional
• Seasonality
• Holidays
• Weather
The final group was just a catch-all for
obvious known areas (weather is not
expected to be a factor), given that
Seasonality is critical, but not a fit above.
These areas have significant overlap, and were aggregated to facilitate focus. Given the
nature of this area, clean, mutually exclusive/collectively exhaustive groups are impossible.

3. 3Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
Below are the Demand Impact Factors categorized by level of need.
These assignments are ClientCo and current situation specific.
ClientCo Factors – 3 Tier Segmentation
‘Must’ Have ‘Should’ Have* ‘Could’ Have
• Historical Demand
• Pricing
• Customer forecasts
• Customer demand / canceled
orders
• Marketing efforts and plans
• Retailer or site traffic growth
• ClientCo SKUs in a Category on
a Retailer site
• Competitor SKUs in a Category
on a Retailer site
• Currency
• Seasonality, Holidays & Timing
• Trade / Regulations
• Product Tier
• New Product introductions, both
ClientCo in Category and
competitors if available
• Attach Rates (if available and/or
applicable)
• Demographics (Consumer)
• Economics (Consumer)
• Macroeconomic (Country/Region)
• Tariffs
• Weather – Temperature
• Weather – Precipitation (days)
• Internet users / usage
• Retailer presence in Market
• Additional Trade Issues & Barriers
• Credit Card usage / credit worthiness
• Tax rates
• Brand strength
• Public relations (current media focus)
• SKU ranking at Retailer
• Competitive activity
• Inflation rate
• Industry guidance
• Cultural factors
• Climate
• Weather – Disaster related
• Regulatory (Non-trade related)
• Physical Geographic attributes
• Infrastructure – Geographic
• Population density
Given the subjectivity of these assignments, we should review my
rationale and make the decisions on ‘which now’, ‘why’ & ‘how’.

4. 4Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
Below are the Demand Impact Factors categorized by level of need. (1/2)
ClientCo ‘Must’ Factors – Which variables, why to include & how?
Which Variable Why Include? How to include?
Historical Demand
Base of the dependent variable, Demand. Core historical values will be the base of a
multiple linear regression exercise to calculate
the delta of YOY demand and future growth.
Pricing
Core demand independent variable. Direct independent variable for a sensitivity
exercise.
Customer Forecasts
Customer forecasts are obviously very
important, but we need to understand their
structure and historical accuracy, if possible.
For this, instead of putting into an analytical
equation, imagined using the result of that with
a weighting for both and then adding together.
Customer Demand
Potentially a very important input, or one
already covered by our historical demand or
their forecasts in the row above.
Need to understand what this is? Historical
(we have), Forecasts (have a disposition
above). Something else? Could be interesting.
Canceled Orders
Two places this becomes pertinent. First, to
clean up the demand to reflect real product
demand. 2nd, show historic error of Retailer.
Need to ensure that it isn’t already in any
historical numbers (shouldn’t) and then
determine if it belongs in past demand.
Marketing Plans
Very important factor, but difficult to quantify
the impact. Prefer a subjective value to
encompass all efforts.
Vision is of a base value for all SKUs, then as
Marketing, Promotions or other means are
deployed, convey expected demand increases.
Retailer Site Growth
Typically this would be very important, whether
it be online, stores or general sales growth.
Not sure we want to assume parallel growth.
For established Retailers with mature markets,
assessing new retailer (or site) growth directly
with your products seems unwise.

5. 5Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
Below are the Demand Impact Factors categorized by level of need. (2/2)
Which Variable Why Include? How to include?
Client SKUs at Site
Potential to draw customers, drive demand
through an attach rate or possibly be
cannibalized by other SKUs.
Not sure how much this changes or drives
demand, and also rankings (which are hard
to quantify over time) are more important.
Competitor SKUs
Competitor products that could divert orders. Very important, but very hard to monitor and
quantify over time unless consistent.
Currency
Direct influence on price and revenue, but here
guessing it should be a modifier of Price at
most, as not sure it directly impacts units.
For unit demand, would argue that this is a
driver of price, but not even a direct one.
Suggest tying to pricing, not demand directly.
Timing (Month/Week)
Absolutely critical, as the demand is directly,
and enormously, a function of the time of year.
Week or Month of the Year needs to be a key
component, and we need to decide how we
magnify its importance vs other variables.
Trade / Regulations
These are critical, especially in the context of
impact of changes, but for our current exercise
All dimensions of trade and regulations
should be analyzed for potential impact.
Then a quantification exercise. Not simple!!
Product Tier
Anticipated to be direct modifier of price
sensitivity given the type of product.
Modifying variable for Pricing, given that
demand will change disproportionally as you
move from the top tiers to the lower ones.
New Products /
Sunsets
Assuming this refers to ‘other’ SKUs.
Understanding the impacts of new/exiting
competitive products can be helpful.
Need to discuss, as original vision was a
direct number of competitive products, but
concern is relevance to focus SKU.
Attach Rates
Not sure relevant as we’d expect
accompanying products to be present at all
Retailers a SKU is sold. Electronics = must!
Need to discuss relevance, and particularly
by SKU. In addition, the impact may already
be baked into historical demand.
There may be others that you would like to discuss.
ClientCo ‘Must’ Factors – Which variables, why to include & how?

6. 6Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
In a number of cases, we categorized factors in terms of this
situation, below provides some possible explanations & rationale.
ClientCo Factors – Rationale of ‘Should’ & ‘Could’
Category Rationale of Assignment
‘Should’ Have
&
‘Could’ Have
• Data element/factor already reflected in historical data
• Factor subordinate to another existing factor
• Longer-term / gradual impact on demand values (though important)
• Changes not expected that would influence within time horizon
• Factor difficult to quantify
• Quantification value varies significantly (e.g. PR/Media exposure)
• Factor primarily used for extreme exceptions/risk (e.g. disasters)
• Too much work to assess impact (e.g. competitive activity levels)
• Highly qualitative
• Relevance would require being proved out by the data
• Unknown degree of impact
• Reference value (e.g. Industry publications on growth), not a Factor
Some of these lend themselves to subjective ratings (e.g. competitive
activity) and could be included as factors, though we need to be wary.

7. 7Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
Below are a variety of attributes that could be Demand Factors related
to a Geography or Market. Only a few are impactful in the short-term.
ClientCo Additional Factors & Discussions - Geographic
General Area Specific Areas Demand Implications
Demographic
• Population Size
• Population Growth
• Gender Percentages
• Age Segments
• Urban/Rural
• Single Family/Multi-Family Homes
• Languages
• Cultural
• Total potential customers
• Possible customer splits for specific items
• Ability to market to English speakers
Economic &
Government
• Median Income / inflation
• Currency Value
• Trade Restrictions / Tariffs
• Overall GDP & Growth
• Political System
• Regulatory Environment
• Credit & Credit Card Usage
• Taxes
• Ability to purchase products
• Cost of products in local terms
• Growth of customer base
• Free market economy or not
• Economic stability and impact on purchases
• Internet purchasing proclivity
Physical
• Climate (Weather could be a subset)
• Land Area
• Shoreline
• Forest Density
• Specific item usage
• Density of population
• Beach / Mountain culture
Infrastructure
• Communications (e.g. Internet) Enabled
• Highway System
• Transportation System (all modes)
• Electricity
• Internet connectivity
• Prevalence of e-commerce
• Shipping ease / costs
Though all could be factors over a long-term, most are glacial in terms of
changes. Most interesting still don’t make our cut: Currency & Trade.

8. 8Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
Global Trade is a very complicated area to explain, but a key one for
Demand Within Trade, below are some of the concerns & implications.
ClientCo Additional Factors & Discussions - Trade
General Area Specific Areas Demand Implications
Primary Barriers
• Restrictions
• Tariffs
• Quotas
• Subsidies
• Treaties
• Dispute Resolutions
• Sanctions
• Embargoes
• Volume to sell
• Costs
• Lead-times
• Competition
• Ease of delivery
• Ease of repatriating funds
• Overall risks
Additional Barriers
• Customers & Inspections
• Entry Locations
• Licenses
• IP Laws
• Insurance Requirements
• Documentation
• Even a year ago, no one could have predicted the length of the protracted battle with China.
• Most of the other areas are probably ‘known & understood’ but changes can happen quickly.

9. 9Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
Holidays is an interesting area regarding Demand Impacts. Many are
obvious, but the impacts of others may be nuanced.
ClientCo Additional Factors & Discussions - Holidays
Type of Holidays Description Examples Demand Implications
Religious
Christian and Jewish holidays,
and their corresponding
seasons and traditions are
prominent in many major
markets. Islamic and Hindu
ones should not be ignored.
• Christmas
• Easter
• Yom Kippur
• Passover
• Hanukkah
• Ramadan
• Diwali
• Gift exchanges
• More time spent online
• Commerce forbidden
• Travel more/less frequent
• Increased/ decreased shopping
Country/State
Outside of religious, many
countries (or states and
regions) have additional
holidays, many with
celebrations. Sometimes
additional holidays may qualify
to be ‘bank holidays’ though
that is just when banks close.
• Independence Day
• Thanksgiving
• New Years Day
• Chinese New Year
• Halloween
• May Day
• Bastille Day
• President’s Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• Time away from work
• Item demands increased
• Physical stores closed
• Increased/ decreased shopping
Others
This is a catch all for other
holidays that are either not
really observed, or result in
closings, but may create some
types of demand and
additional shopping instances.
• Black Friday
• Cyber Monday
• Mother’s Day
• Valentine’s Day
• No Tax Weekends
• Increased shopping volumes
• Items consumed
• Reduced prices
For our efforts, seasonality and the impacts of these should be built
into evaluating historical, but they are things to take into account.

10. 10Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
Weather can be a major factor for online shopping in general, and
weather related products. Below we look at the specifics.
ClientCo Additional Factors & Discussions - Weather
Description Examples Demand Implications
Climate
This is a general term that is a
descriptor for prevalence and averages
for the attributes below. Literal
definition is ‘the weather conditions
prevailing in an area of a long period of
time.’
• Usefulness of products
• Time spent indoors shopping online
Temperature
• Average temperature
• Days with temperature above X
• Days with temperature below X
• Temperatures may affect expected usefulness of
products
• Temperatures may impact online shopping days
Precipitation
• Days of Rain
• Days of Snow or Ice
• Amount of Snow or Ice
• Amount of Rain
• Utility of products
• Time spent indoors shopping online
• Ability to execute home delivery
• Interference in supply chain
Other
• Wind / Hurricanes / Tornados
• Earthquakes
• Humidity
• Ocean Currents
• Utility of products
• Risk of major disasters
• Fire risks

11. 11Jay Martin ClientCo.ppt
We left in a ‘Other’ section, so as not to ignore the possibility that we
missed something. Cultural, already in Geographic, might fit here.
ClientCo Additional Factors & Discussions – Other Areas
• Consumer tastes, which is somewhat qualitative, straddles a number of
areas, but also is impacted by things such as.
– TV characters
– Movies
– Actors / Actresses
– Singers
– Youth Trends
– Celebrity lifestyles & endorsements
• Cultural norms are very subjective, but need to be followed closely.
Anything else that you can think of that I forgot? Everyone should try
to think of things that may be impactful but did not make the list.