Why is sales forecasting so important and how do places do it?

Question

Why is sales forecasting so important and how do places do it?

Answer 1

Its important to forecast sales in order to anticipate future cash flows, order inventory accurately, ensure efficient staffing.  Essentially to ensure proper resource allocations for the period forecasted.

There are a number of methods to do this, regression analysis of key variables, exponential smoothing of past data, analyzing industry wide trends, etc