Information Resources Inc. says a new sales forecasting service, IRI Launch Commander, is proving to be a major breakthrough in sales forecasting as it provides year-one sales forecasts based on as little as eight weeks of data.
The speed and accuracy of this forecasting, IRI said, is an unprecedented step forward for manufacturers requiring early alerts on whether or not new products are on track to meet goals, before it is too late to make critical adjustments.
Clients considered pioneers in the field of CPG innovation management have embraced Launch Commander, the launch management service from IRI, early in its beta testing cycle, IRI said.
The service’s accurate forecasts early in the launch process and the ability to quickly identify opportunities and implement them to drive first-year results have already propelled several new products to success.
“With 80 to 90% of new products disappearing from store shelves within a year, the success rates of launches have gone virtually unchanged for the past 30 years,” said IRI President of Consumer and Shopper Insights Bob Tomei. “It’s time to change those statistics. The current economic environment will be even less forgiving of missteps in new product launches, but we are confident that with the ability to quickly course-correct – taking such measures as adjusting distribution based on SKU popularity – IRI can help manufacturers achieve success with their new products.”
IRI has performed more than 500 validations between forecast and actual sales. In addition to providing support of new product launches at the national and regional level, Launch Commander methodology can be used to accelerate new product testing reads from IRI’s leading BehaviorScan service. Speeding up this crucial step in the go-to-market process helps manufacturers start reaping the return on their innovation investment faster than ever.
“IRI understands how critical it is for manufacturers to operate more efficiently during this difficult economic climate,” Tomei said. “By quickly alerting them to key problems and opportunities and giving them the ability to make major adjustments before it is too late, we will help clients avoid the costly failures of products which have inherent potential. No longer will reads that come too late for action prevent high-quality brands from succeeding.”
