Evaluating Predictive Count Data Distributions in Retail Sales Forecasting

Kolassa, Stephan (2016) Evaluating Predictive Count Data Distributions in Retail Sales Forecasting. International Journal of Forecasting, 32 (3). pp. 788-803. ISSN 0169-2070

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Abstract

Massive increases in computing power and new database architectures allow data to be stored and processed at finer and finer granularities, yielding count data time series with lower and lower counts. These series can no longer be dealt with using the approximative methods that are appropriate for continuous probability distributions. In addition, it is not sufficient to calculate point forecasts alone: we need to forecast entire (discrete) predictive distributions, particularly for supply chain forecasting and inventory control, but also for other planning processes. However, tools that are suitable for evaluating the quality of discrete predictive distributions are not commonly used in sales forecasting. We explore classical point forecast accuracy measures, explain why measures such as MAD, MASE and wMAPE are inherently unsuitable for count data, and use the randomized Probability Integral Transform (PIT) and proper scoring rules to compare the performances of multiple causal and noncausal forecasting models on two datasets of daily retail sales.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
International Journal of Forecasting
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1400/1403
Subjects:
?? DEMAND FORECASTINGDENSITY FORECASTINGERROR MEASURESINTERMITTENT DEMANDPROPER SCORING RULESBUSINESS AND INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT ??
ID Code:
134005
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
30 May 2019 09:15
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
17 Sep 2023 02:35