JP2012150671A - Demand prediction device and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the predicting accuracy of the number of purchase of merchandise.SOLUTION: This demand prediction device includes: storage means; regression coefficient calculation means; and predicted number of purchase calculation means. The storage means is configured to store the number of purchase of each merchandise composing a merchandise group consisting of a plurality of merchandise in a first predetermined period and varying factor information acquired by digitizing the varying factors of the number of purchase of each merchandise of the merchandise group. The regression coefficient calculation means is configured to calculate, for each arbitrary merchandise included in the merchandise group, a first regression coefficient showing the degree of the contribution of each varying factor information to the variation of the number of purchase of the pertinent arbitrary merchandise and a second regression coefficient showing the degree of contribution of the number of purchase of each of the other merchandise to the variation of the number of purchase of the pertinent arbitrary merchandise on the basis of the storage means. The predicted number of purchase calculation means is configured to calculate the predicted number of purchase showing the number of purchase of merchandise which is likely to be purchased in a second predetermined period for each merchandise on the basis of the first regression coefficient and the second regression coefficient and the number of purchase of each merchandise and the varying factor information.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a demand prediction apparatus and a program thereof.

  Conventionally, POS (Point of Sales) systems have become widespread, and purchase (sales) data for each product can be easily collected. And the demand forecast according to goods, such as a retail store, based on the purchase data for every goods began to be used. For example, a demand forecast obtained by analyzing purchase data can be used to suppress the occurrence of waste loss of unsold products due to an excessive order quantity or the occurrence of opportunity loss due to out of order goods resulting from an insufficient order quantity. Then, a technique for combining demand forecasting with the digitization of business transactions by EDI (electronic data interchange) to develop an automatic ordering system has begun to be proposed.

  As a method of demand prediction that can be used in an automatic ordering system, there is a known multiple regression analysis. And a demand prediction can be performed for every goods by using a well-known multiple regression analysis.

  However, in a large-scale retail store such as a supermarket, a so-called special sale operation is performed in which a specific product is provided at a low price for a limited time and date for attracting customers. It is difficult to grasp the effects of this special sale operation by visual and empirical knowledge alone, and it is particularly necessary to objectively understand how much the special sale induces the purchase of other products and how much it contributes to the sales of the entire store. There is.

  However, it is extremely difficult to apply the demand forecast by the conventional multiple regression analysis to this special sale operation. This is because demand prediction based on multiple regression analysis is performed for each product and does not take into consideration that fluctuations in the purchase prediction value of one product affect the prediction of purchase prediction values of other consumptions.

  The demand prediction device of the embodiment includes storage means, regression coefficient calculation means, and predicted purchase number calculation means. The storage means stores the number of purchases in a first predetermined period for each product constituting a product group composed of a plurality of products, and variation factor information obtained by quantifying factors that vary the number of purchases of each product in the product group. To do. The regression coefficient calculation means includes, based on the storage means, a first regression coefficient indicating the degree to which each variable factor information included in the product group contributes to fluctuations in the number of purchases of the arbitrary product for each arbitrary product; For each arbitrary product, a second regression coefficient indicating the degree to which each purchased number of other products contributes to fluctuations in the purchased number of the arbitrary product is calculated. The predicted purchase number calculation means can purchase for each product within the second predetermined period based on the first regression coefficient and the second regression coefficient, the purchase number for each product and the variable factor information. Calculate the predicted number of purchases that indicate the number of purchases that have a certain nature.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of a headquarters including a demand prediction apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the multiple regression analysis. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a difference in accuracy between the demand prediction by the demand prediction apparatus according to the present embodiment and the demand prediction by the conventional multiple regression analysis. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing from special sale planning to ordering in the headquarters system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure from a special sale plan to an order for a basic commodity in the headquarters system according to the modification of the present embodiment.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of a headquarters including a demand prediction apparatus according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the retailer system includes a demand prediction device 100, a special sales planning support system 121, an order quantity determination support system 122, and an ordering system 123 in the headquarters.

  The special sales planning support system 121 and the order quantity determination support system 122 should be called subsystems, and are connected to each terminal and function as an interface for connecting each person in charge and the demand forecasting apparatus 100 of the headquarters. The special sales planning support system 121 is a system constructed to support special sales planning, and is connected to a plurality of headquarters special sales planning terminals 124 that perform special sales planning. The special sales plan is, for example, a business as a special sales planner for a buyer for each product category in the supermarket headquarters. The headquarters special sale planning terminal 124 receives a special sale code (name), a special sale price, a special sale date, a flyer posting, etc. indicating a product to be sold in the special sale plan from a special sale planner who refers to past results and recommended information. Accept sales promotion data. And the special sales plan support system 121 outputs these input information to the input reception part 114 of the demand prediction apparatus 100, when forecasting a demand.

  In addition, the order quantity determination support system 122 is connected to a plurality of store order terminals 125 that determine the order quantity of special goods and standard goods sold at a normal price. The store ordering terminal 125 is used by a person in charge of ordering a store to input the number of orders for specials and standard items with reference to past results and recommended information. The order quantity determination support system 122 is a system for determining the order quantity of each store by communicating with the order terminal 125 of each store. The ordering system 123 is a system that requests an order for a product from a manufacturer that manufactures or sells the product according to the order number of all the stores determined by the order number determination support system 122.

  The ordering system 123 is an external system that cooperates with the demand forecasting apparatus 100, and receives ordering data such as product codes, number of orders, delivery date, purchase price, etc. of special sales items and standard items, and transmits them to wholesalers, manufacturers, and the like.

  The demand prediction device 100 includes a storage unit 111, a regression coefficient calculation unit 112, a predicted purchase number calculation unit 113, and an input reception unit 114.

  The storage unit 111 includes a purchase number database, a product master database, a purchase database, an inventory database, a sales promotion database, a weather database, and an event database. In addition, the storage unit 111 manages not only the demand prediction apparatus 100 but also information used in other terminals and systems. Further, the storage unit 111 is not limited to being built in the demand prediction apparatus 100, but may have a configuration different from that of the demand prediction apparatus 100 as an external database server.

  The purchase number database is a database that manages the number of purchases for each predetermined period in the past for each product that constitutes a product group composed of a plurality of products. The predetermined period may be determined according to the embodiment. For example, the number of purchases may be managed in units of one day, or the number of purchases may be managed in units of several hours.

  The product master database also manages basic product data such as product codes, product names, and product classifications. The purchase database manages purchase data published for receipt details and the like.

  In addition, the database other than the purchase number database includes a database that stores information that can be a variable factor for changing the purchase number of the product group. For example, the sales promotion database stores sales promotion data indicating a sales promotion state in a store, which is a kind of variable factor. Specifically, the sales promotion database manages sales promotion data such as a special sale code, a special sale price, a special sale date, and a flyer publication.

  The event database stores event data indicating regional events, which is a kind of variation factor. The weather database stores weather data such as temperature, humidity, and precipitation.

  Thus, in the headquarters of a retail company that supervises the operations of a plurality of stores, each database in the storage unit 111 collectively manages information required by each store or headquarters.

  Based on the storage unit 111, the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 is a regression coefficient that indicates the degree to which each data that can be a variation factor for each arbitrary product included in the product group contributes to fluctuations in the number of purchases of the arbitrary product. Is calculated. Further, the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 calculates, for each arbitrary product, a purchase number regression coefficient indicating the degree to which each purchase number of other products contributes to fluctuations in the purchase number of the arbitrary product.

  By the way, this embodiment demonstrates the case where the goods which comprise a goods group are N types. N types of products are represented as product 1, product 2,..., Product n,.

Let Y _n be the number of purchases for this product n (n = 1, 2,..., N). That is, items 1, item 2, ..., item n, ... each purchase number of the product N, buying number Y _1, Y _2, ..., Y _n, ..., indicated as Y _N. The past purchase numbers are indicated as Y ~ ₁ , Y ~ ₂ , ..., Y ~ _n , ..., Y ~ _N.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that there are M types of data that can be a variation factor. And the variation factor with respect to the goods n is shown as _Xn1 , _Xn2 , ..., _Xnm , ..., _XnM (m = 1, 2, ..., M). The variation factor X _nm (t) is the sales price, day of the week, holiday, temperature, precipitation, local event, presence / absence of flyer publication, etc., and data that may change the number of purchases is digitized.

In the regression coefficient calculation unit 112, the number of purchases Y to _n of the product n in the past predetermined period can be expressed by the following equation (1).
Y ~ _n = _{a n1 Y ~ 1 + a n2} Y ~ 2 + ... + a n (n1) Y ~ n1 + a n (n + 1) Y ~ n + 1 + ... + a nN Y ~ N + b n0 + b n1 X n1 + b _{n2 Xn2} + ... + b _{nM XnM} (1)

In the above equation (1), b _n0 is a regression coefficient of product n which is a constant term. b _n1 ,..., b _nM are regression coefficients for each data that can be M types of variation factors for the product n. a _n1 ,..., a _{n (n-1)} , a _{n (n + 1)} ,..., a _nN are purchase number regressions indicating the degree to which the number of purchases of other products fluctuates the number of purchases of product n It is a coefficient.

Then, the regression coefficient calculating section 112, the above equation (1) is generated for each item N kinds of, Y ~ ₁ of the formula past number of purchasing each product for each predetermined period or more M + N times, ..., Y To _N and using a known regression coefficient calculation method, regression coefficients b _n0 , b _n1 ,..., B _nM (n = 1... N) and purchase number regression coefficients a _{n1 ,.} ... N) are all calculated.

<Predicted products>
The regression coefficient calculation unit 112 according to the present embodiment calculates the above-described regression coefficient and purchase number regression coefficient using a known multiple regression analysis. Each data stored in the storage unit 111 is used to calculate these regression coefficients. In the present embodiment, the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 calculates using data that can be a past purchase quantity and a variable factor for a predetermined period, for example, about 1 to 3 months.

  Note that the demand prediction may be performed for each store, or the total demand prediction in all stores may be calculated. When the demand prediction is performed for each store, the product group to be predicted is all the products purchased in the past at the target store. However, products that are purchased only a few in a month and that are not eligible for sale and for which a rapid increase in the number of purchases cannot be expected in the future may be excluded from the product group.

In this embodiment, the number of purchases of the product n (= 1, 2,..., N) in the past predetermined period t, which is used by the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 to calculate the regression coefficient, is represented by Y to _n (t). (= Y ~ ₁ (t), Y ~ ₂ (t), ..., Y ~ _n (t), ..., Y ~ _N (t)). This predetermined period t may be a one-day interval, an hour interval, or a one-minute interval. Then, when calculating the regression coefficient, the total number of purchases Y to _n (t) purchased in such a predetermined period t is read from the purchase number database.

<Variation factor>
Since the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 uses the calculation of the regression coefficient, data that can be past variation factors of M types (m = 1, 2,..., M) for the product n (= 1, 2,..., N). X _nm (t) is read from each database in the storage unit 111 every predetermined period t (t = 1, 2,..., T).

That is, the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 reads the following data from the storage unit 111 as past data that is a variation factor for the product n (= 1, 2,..., N).
X _n1 (0), X _n1 (1), ..., X _n1 (t), ..., X _n1 (T)
X _n2 (0), X _n1 (1), ..., X _n2 (t), ..., X _n2 (T)
......
X _nM (0), X _n1 (1), ..., X _nm (t), ..., X _nM (T)

  However, in order to solve the simultaneous equations, the total number T of the predetermined period needs to be M + 1 or more. In other words, the relationship of T ≧ M + 1 (t = 0, 1, 2,..., T) (m = 1, 2,..., M) needs to be satisfied.

<Conventional regression coefficient calculation>
Next, a known regression coefficient calculation method will be described. When the past data X _nm (t) serving as a predictive factor is used as a known regression coefficient calculation method, the estimated number of purchases Y _n (y) of a product n in a predetermined period t (t = 0, 1,..., T) t) can be represented by the following regression equations (2-0) to (2-T).

Y _n (0) = b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 (0) + b _n2 X _n2 (0) +... + B _nM X _nM (0) (2-0)
Y _n (1) = b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 (1) + b _n2 X _n2 (1) +... + B _nM X _nM (1) (2-1)
...
Y _n (t) = b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 (t) + b _n2 X _n2 (t) +... + B _nM X _nM (t) (2-t)
...
Y _n (T) = b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 (T) + b _n2 X _n2 (T) +... + B _nM X _nM (T) (2-T)

At this time, in the multiple regression analysis, when E () representing an expected value is used, the square sum Q of the residuals can be expressed by Expression (3). _Y˜n (t) is the actual number of purchases in a predetermined period t.

_{Q = E (Y n (t} ) -Y ~ n (t)) 2 ... (3)

The regression coefficient of M + 1 single and constant term of the product n to the change factor _{X nm (m = 0,1,2 ...,} M) b nm b n0, b n1, b n2, ..., b nm, ..., b nM Is derived so that Q in Equation (3) is minimized. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the multiple regression analysis. In other words, the regression curve of FIG. 2 is obtained to approximate each measured value.

In the conventional method, the regression coefficient b _nm of the regression equations (2-0) to (2-T) is fixed, and the prediction data X _nM that becomes a variation factor in the period to be predicted is substituted, predicted value Y _n future purchase number of the product n is calculated from equation (4) below.
Y _n = b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 + b _n2 X _n2 +... + B _nM X _nM (4)

  However, the conventional multiple regression analysis as described above does not include any influence of the interaction of other commodities as shown by the equation (4). However, in reality, the interaction of each product occurs.

  As the increase / decrease pattern of the number of purchases between the two products A-B, there are the following four types of interactions. That is, (1) when the purchase number of the product A increases, the purchase number of the product B increases, (2) when the purchase number of the product A increases, the purchase number of the product B decreases, and (3) the product A When the number of purchases decreases, the number of purchases of the product B increases. (4) When the number of purchases of the product A decreases, the number of purchases of the product B decreases.

  And these four types of interactions should just be described with respect to all the prediction object goods groups. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the regression equation for calculating the number of purchases of the product A, all the purchase numbers other than A in the same period are shown as variation factors of the number of purchases of the product A.

<Calculation of regression coefficient representing interaction>
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the number of past purchases Y ~ ₁ (t), Y ~ ₂ (t),..., Y ~ _n- of the other products in the product group excluding the product _{n. 1 (t), Y ~ n} + 1 (t), ..., Y 1, Y 2 corresponding to _{Y ~ n (t), ...} , Y n-1, Y n + 1, ..., a Y _n, goods It is used as a purchase quantity variation factor in the regression equation of n.

Then, the purchase number of items n fluctuation factor _{Y 1, Y 2, ...,} Y n1, Y n + 1, ..., (N-1) a purchase number regression coefficients for _{Y N a n1, a n2,} ..., a _{n (n-1)} , a _{n (n + 1) ,.} Then, as the regression equation for calculating the purchase number Y _n of the product n, all changes factors, purchasing rate variability factor, and the formula (5) using the regression coefficient thereof can be set.

_{Y n = a n1 Y 1 +} a n2 Y 2 + ... + a n (n1) Y n1 + a n (n + 1) Y n + 1 + ... + a nN Y N + b n0 + b n1 X n1 + b n2 X _n2 + ... + b _nM X _nM (5)

The total number of regression coefficients in equation (5) is (N−1) + (M + 1) = N + M. Therefore, the past data set of the fluctuation factors and purchase quantity fluctuation factors extracted from the storage unit 111 is also set to N + M or more. That is, Y ~ ₁ (t), Y ~ ₂ (t), ..., Y ~ _n-1 (t), Y ~ _{n + 1} (t), ..., Y ~ _N (t) and _Xn1 (t ), X _n1 (t),..., X _n1 (t),..., X _n1 (t) (t = 0, 1, 2,..., T) must satisfy T ≧ N + M−1. .

When the condition of T ≧ N + M−1 is satisfied, the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 uses the regression equation (5) and a known regression coefficient calculation method to purchase all N + M items for the product n. regression coefficient _{a n1, a n2, ...,} a n (n1), a n (n + 1), ..., a nN and regression coefficient _{b n0, b n1, b n2} , ..., b nM can be calculated.

  The predicted purchase number calculation unit 113 is based on the regression coefficient and purchase number regression coefficient calculated by the regression coefficient calculation unit 112, and the data that is the purchase number and the variation factor for each product stored in the storage unit 111. For each product, a predicted number of purchases indicating the number of purchases that are likely to be purchased within a predetermined period after the above-mentioned past predetermined period, in other words, after the present is calculated.

  The predicted purchase number calculation unit 113 uses the following equation (6) to calculate the predicted purchase number of the product n included in the N products that form the product group.

b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 + b _n2 X _n2 +... + b _nM X _nM = −a _n1 Y ₁ −a _n2 Y ₂ −... −a _{n (n−1)} Y _n−1 + Y _n −a _{n (n + 1 )} Y _{n + 1} −... −a _nN Y _N (6)

Then, the predicted purchase quantity calculation unit 113 applies the data that becomes a variation factor for each product for a predetermined period after the present to X _n1 ,..., X _nM of the formula (6), and then sets the formula (6) to N calculated kinds of generated for each product, based on the generated n equations, the predicted purchasing number of n each product constituting the product group _{Y 1, Y 2, ...,} Y n, ..., the Y _n To do.

<Estimated number of past purchases>
Before explaining the estimation method of the future purchase quantity, the past purchase quantity estimation technique will be explained. First, for each of the N products that make up the product group, using the variation factor, purchase number variation factor, regression coefficient, purchase number regression coefficient, etc. as described above, regression equation groups (7-1) to (7) -N) can be set.

Y ₁ = a ₁₂ Y ₂ + a ₁₃ Y ₃ + ... + a _1N Y _N + b ₁₀ + b ₁₁ X ₁₁ + b ₁₂ X ₁₂ + ... + b _1M X _1M (7-1)
Y ₂ = a ₂₁ Y ₁ + a ₂₃ Y ₃ + a ₂₄ Y ₄ ... + a _2N Y _N + b ₂₀ + b ₂₁ X ₂₁ + b ₂₂ X ₂₂ + ... + b _2M X _2M (7-2)
...
_{Y n = a n1 Y 1 +} a n2 Y 2 + ... + a n (n1) Y n1 + a n (n + 1) Y n + 1 + ... + a nN Y N + b n0 + b n1 X n1 + b n2 X _n2 + ... + b _nM X _nM (7-n)
...
Y _N = a _N1 Y ₁ + a _N2 Y ₂ + ... + a _{N (N-2)} Y _N-2 + a _{N (N-1)} Y _N-1 + b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 + b _n2 X _n2 + ... + b _nM X _nM (7-N)

  In the regression equation groups (7-1) to (7-N), if T ≧ N + M−1 is satisfied for each past predetermined period (t = 0, 1, 2,..., T), the right side Are all known, the following equations (8-1) to (8-N) can be derived.

Y ₁ (t) = a ₁₂ Y- ₂ (t) + a ₁₃ Y- ₃ (t) + ... + a _1N Y- _N (t) + b ₁₀ + b ₁₁ X ₁₁ (t) + b ₁₂ X ₁₂ (t) + ... + B _1M X _1M (t) (8-1)
_{Y 2 (t) = a 21} Y ~ 1 (t) + a 23 Y ~ 3 + a 24 Y ~ 4 ... + a 2N Y ~ N (t) + b 20 + b 21 X 21 (t) + b 22 X 22 (t) + ... + b _2M X _2M (t) (8-2)
...
Y _n (t) = a _n1 Y ~ ₁ (t) + a _n2 Y ~ ₂ + ... + an _(n-1) Y ~ _n-1 + an _{(n + 1)} Y ~ _{n + 1} + ... + an _n Y _{~ n (t) + b n0} + b n1 X n1 (t) + b n2 X n2 (t) + ... + b nM X nM (t) ... (8-n)
...
Y _N (t) = a _N1 Y ~ ₁ (t) + a _N2 Y ~ ₂ (t) + ... + a _{N (N-2)} Y ~ _N-2 (t) + a _{N (N-1)} Y ~ _{N- 1} (t) + b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 (t) + b _n2 X _n2 (t) +... + B _nM X _nM (t) (8−N)

The estimated past purchase quantity Y _n (t) can be calculated under the condition that the square sum Q of the residuals of the multiple regression analysis is minimized.

<Future purchase forecast>
However, in the calculation of the predicted number of purchases for the product n for a predetermined period in the future, all regression coefficients a _nk (n ≠ k) and b _{nm on} the right side of the regression equation groups (7-1) to (7-N) are determined. _Therefore, data X _nM that becomes a variation factor in the predetermined future period can be derived. However, the right-hand side of Y _k (k ≠ n), since Y _k is to mean the predicted value of the future purchases number of other products other than products n, is unknown at future time, the only equation (6), product It is not possible to calculate the predicted number of future purchases for n.

Therefore, in order for the forecast purchase quantity calculation unit 113 according to the present embodiment to calculate, terms relating to the variation factor X _nm and the regression coefficients b _n0 , b _n1 , b _n2 ,..., B _{nm ,.} B _n = b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 + b _n2 X _n2 +... + B _nM X _nM Then, by transforming the regression equation groups (7-1) to (7-N) using the formula, a simultaneous purchase number prediction equation group (simultaneous purchase number prediction equation group (N) of N products constituting the product group ( 9-1) to (9-N) can be constructed.

B ₁ = Y ₁ −a ₁₂ Y ₂ −a ₁₃ Y ₃ −... −a _1N Y _N (9-1)
B ₂ = −a ₂₁ Y ₁ −Y ₂ −a ₂₃ Y ₃ −a ₂₄ Y ₄ ... −a _2N Y _N (9-2)
...
B _n = −a _n1 Y ₁ −a _n2 Y ₂ −... −a _{n (n−1)} Y _n−1 + Y _n −a _{n (n + 1)} Y _{n + 1 −...− an N} Y _N. 9-n)
...
B _N = −a _N1 Y ₁ −a _N2 Y ₂ +... −a _{N (N−2)} Y _N−2 −a _{N (N−1)} Y _N−1 −Y _N (9−N)

Here, in the simultaneous purchase number prediction formula groups (9-1) to (9-N), a _nn = 1 (n = 1, 2,..., N), B _n = −a _n1 Y ₁ −a _n2 Y ₂ −... −an _(n−1) Y _n−1 + an _n Y _n −an _{(n + 1)} Y _{n + 1} −... _{−an n} Y _N 1) ~ (9-n) is unknown Y _n is the n, the number of equations is also the n. Therefore, if the matrix composed of the coefficients aij (i, j = 1, 2,..., N) is regular, the predicted purchase quantity calculation unit 113 configures the product group using a known simultaneous linear equation solving method. prediction of future for n commodity purchasing number Y _1, Y ₂ which, ..., Y _n, ..., can be calculated Y _n.

Then, vector b ^T = (B ₁ , B ₂ ,..., B _n ,..., B _N ), vector y ^T = (Y ₁ , Y ₂ ,..., Y _n ,..., Y _N ) and matrix A = If {aij} (i, j = 1,2,..., N), the simultaneous purchase quantity prediction formula groups (9-1) to (9-N) are Ay = b, and if modified, y = A ^−1. b (10) can be derived.

Then, after calculating the inverse matrix A ⁻¹ which is a coefficient matrix, the predicted purchase number calculation unit 113 can calculate a vector y indicating the future predicted purchase number when the vector b is arbitrarily received.

The vector b is composed of a variation factor X _nm or the like, and in other words includes a selling price, a day of the week, a holiday, temperature, precipitation, a local event, presence / absence of a flyer publication, and the like. Therefore, the predicted purchase number calculation unit 113 can calculate the purchase number prediction for the sales price and the purchase number prediction for the temperature by receiving the input of the arbitrary vector b.

  As a result, the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has the optimum sales price (sale price) of the product that maximizes the sales for any product, or the optimal sales price (sale price) that maximizes the sales of all products. ) Etc. can be calculated.

  The input receiving unit 114 receives input of data that will be a future variable factor from the order quantity determination support system 122, the special sale planning support system 121, and the like. And the vector b derived | led-out from the data used as the fluctuation | variation factor which received the input is set to the prediction purchase number calculation part 113, and the calculation of the prediction sales number based on a special sale plan etc. can be performed.

<Accuracy comparison>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a difference in accuracy between the demand prediction by the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment and the demand prediction by the conventional multiple regression analysis. In the graph shown in FIG. 3, a line segment 303 is the standard deviation of the purchase quantity, and a line segment 304 is the average value of the purchase quantity. The line segment 301 is the residual with the actual number of purchases when the conventional multiple regression analysis is used, and the line segment 302 is the residual with the actual number of purchases when the method of the present embodiment is used. Difference. Note that the products A to D are special sales products whose purchase numbers fluctuate drastically, and the products E to H are sales products at a normal price with little fluctuation in the number of purchases.

The graph shown in FIG. 3 is calculated using actual data for a certain past period (for example, 10 weeks). After calculating the regression coefficient and the purchase regression coefficient by the method performed by the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 using the actual data, the coefficient matrix A ^-1 is calculated by the method performed by the predicted purchase number calculation unit 113, The number of predicted purchases after the 11th week was calculated. In the graph shown in FIG. 3, the prediction accuracy using the calculated predicted purchase number and the actual purchase number after the 11th week is shown by a line segment 302.

  On the other hand, in the line segment 301 indicating the residual of the prediction accuracy when the conventional multiple regression analysis method is used, there is little fluctuation for a product that is always sold at a normal price with little fluctuation in the number of sales. The influence of interaction is small and within an acceptable accuracy range. However, it can be recognized that for products that are always sold in a special sale state with a large fluctuation in the number of sales, due to the great influence of the interaction, it is difficult to apply for use in demand prediction due to large errors.

  On the other hand, in the line segment 302 indicating the residual of prediction accuracy when the method of the present embodiment is used, there is little residual even if the product is always sold in a special sale state. For this reason, it can be used for demand prediction. In addition, even for products that are always sold at a regular price with a small number of sales fluctuations, the effects of special sales products (A, B, C), etc. are reflected. It can be understood that the residual is small and the prediction accuracy is high.

  Next, processing from special sales planning to ordering in the head office system including the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the above-described processing in the head office system according to the present embodiment.

  First, the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 of the demand prediction apparatus 100 calculates a regression coefficient and a purchase regression coefficient in advance based on the number of purchases of each past product stored in the storage unit 111 (step S401).

  Thereafter, the person in charge of special sales planning accesses the special sales planning support system 121 via the special sales planning terminal 124 of the headquarters. Then, the special sales planning support system 121 inputs, from the special sales planning terminal 124 in the headquarters, a future special sale date that is a set value of the special sale plan, a plurality of product names or product codes that are the special sale target products, a special sale price, presence / absence of leaflet publication, and the like. Accept. Note that weather data such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, etc. need not be input because weather forecast data for special sales days is extracted from the storage unit 111. Then, the special sales planning support system 121 outputs the input data and the extracted weather forecast data to the demand prediction device 100.

  In the sale plan setting in the sale plan support system according to the present embodiment, for example, if the candidates for the sale target product are narrowed down, the sale plan support system 121 performs an optimal sale product by a known random search or the like. You may extract the combination.

  Thereby, the input reception part 114 of the demand prediction apparatus 100 receives an input from the sale plan support system 121 as a variable factor including the combination and price of sale items (step S402).

  Then, the predicted purchase number calculation unit 113 calculates the predicted purchase number of each product in all stores based on the variation factor that has received the input, and the calculated regression coefficient and purchase regression coefficient (step S403).

  Then, whether the total sales and profits of all stores based on the predicted number of purchases calculated by the demand prediction device 100 based on the operation of the special sales planner in accordance with the operation of the special sales planner satisfies the standard for special sales planning. It is determined whether or not (step S404). Note that, as a determination criterion, not only the sum of sales and profits but also a specific store sales or the number of sales of a specific product may be included as a determination criterion.

  When the special sales planning support system 121 determines that the standard is not satisfied (step S404: No), the special sales planning is reset again, and the input of the variable factor based on the resetting is accepted ( Step S402).

  On the other hand, when it determines with satisfy | filling a reference | standard (step S404: Yes), the order quantity determination support system 122 determines the order quantity of the special sale goods and basic goods of each store (step S405).

  By the way, the determination of the number of orders is the work of the person in charge of ordering for each store for each product category or for the entire store. For this reason, the person in charge of ordering at each store accesses the order quantity determination support system 122 via the store ordering terminal 125. In the special sale planning support system 121, a special sale date, a special sale target product, and a special sale price based on the special sale plan are determined in step S402. Further, in step S405, the predicted number of purchases for each store of the special sale product and the standard sale product that is the non-sale sale product has been calculated. Therefore, when the orderer of each store accesses the store ordering terminal 125, the recommended order quantity obtained by adding the stock quantity of the store to the predicted purchase quantity is acquired from the order quantity determination support system 122.

  At this time, the person in charge of ordering corrects the recommended order quantity in consideration of the characteristics and circumstances specific to the store in the order quantity. This store-specific characteristic is a purchase characteristic of a customer specific to the store that the demand prediction apparatus 100 did not collect. Included are local events, demand stimuli that cannot be detected by the demand forecasting device 100 such as TV programs and word-of-mouth communication, or sudden demand stimuli that have not been accumulated in past data (for example, the first victory of a local high school baseball team) Because. Furthermore, the circumstances unique to the store include, for example, a time lag in updating inventory data due to delivery delay or the like.

  Then, the person in charge of the order inputs the unique factor specific to the store and requests the demand prediction apparatus 100 to calculate the predicted purchase number of each product again. Then, the order terminal 125 of the store outputs the calculation result to the person in charge of ordering. Then, it is determined whether or not the order terminal 125 of the store satisfies the sales standard of the store according to the operation from the person in charge of the order (step S406). The criterion for this determination may be not only the sales and profit of the store but also the number of sales of a specific product as one of the determination criteria.

  If the ordering terminal 125 of the store determines that the criteria such as sales of the store do not meet the criteria (step S406: No), the ordering person supports the order quantity determination via the ordering terminal 125 of the store. The system 122 corrects the combination of special target items, the price, the number of purchases, and the like. Thereby, the input reception part 114 of the demand prediction apparatus 100 receives input from the special sales planning support system 121 as a variable factor including the combination of special sales products, the price, and the number of purchases in the store (step S407).

  Then, the predicted purchase number calculation unit 113 calculates the predicted purchase number of each product of the store based on the variation factor that has received the input, and the calculated regression coefficient and purchase regression coefficient (step S408). Then, the process starts again from step S405.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the order terminal 125 of the store satisfies the sales standard of the store (step S406: Yes), the order system 123 determines the order number of each product determined by the order number determination support system 122. Then, an order is requested to each ordering company (step S409).

  By the processing procedure described above, it is possible to place an order for each product so that the sales at each store satisfy the standard. At that time, even if each person in charge has no experience in purchasing forecasting, it is possible to place an order after predicting the number of purchases of each product.

  In addition, instead of the processing shown in steps S402 to S405, the person in charge of special sales planning inputs only a combination of special sales goods, and in cooperation with the special sales planning support system 121 and the demand prediction device 100, every 10 yen for each product. It is also possible to calculate the predicted number of purchases with respect to price fluctuations and determine the special sale price that is the maximum sales. Furthermore, the person in charge of special sales planning may add a correction to the predicted number of purchases calculated by the demand prediction apparatus 100 from the special sales planning support system 121.

  Moreover, in the demand prediction apparatus 100, abnormality of a predicted value cannot be prevented 100%. This is because what is judged abnormal is largely dependent on human judgment. For this reason, in the demand prediction apparatus 100, it is assumed that safety limits such as an upper limit / lower limit and a deviation limit from the average value are incorporated in the calculation of the predicted purchase number in advance. When the predicted number of purchases calculated by the demand prediction device 100 approaches these safety limits, the ordering terminal 125 of each store receives a warning received via the order number determination support system 122 to the ordering person. To display. In addition, since this safety limit is set, there is also a reverse risk of reducing the number of products that can be sold. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the final confirmation of the person in charge of ordering is required to determine the number of orders.

  In addition to the demand prediction device 100, each system and (operation) terminal are all realized by general-purpose computer devices, and each function described above is executed by executing a computer program that runs on each computer device. Realized.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration of the head office system having a plurality of stores is shown, but the present invention may be applied to a system configuration of only one store.

(Modification 1 of the first embodiment)
As described above, in the first embodiment, the example in which the ordering person in each store confirms the order is described. However, confirmation of the person in charge of ordering is not necessarily required, and the system may automatically place an order. In the first modification of the first embodiment, a case where automatic ordering is performed will be described.

  By the way, a standard product which is a non-sale target product has a higher prediction accuracy because the number of purchases is more stable than a special sale product, so that the residual between prediction and actual sale is small. Furthermore, the basic products that are non-special sales products have a small purchase amount and a small order quantity. For this reason, even if the number of orders deviates from actual demand, there is little damage.

  In addition, products related to housing-related products such as processed foods and detergents that have a stockable number of days of 2 to 3 weeks or more can be corrected at the next order timing even if the number of orders is off the actual demand, so there is little damage.

  In other words, excluding special sales products with a very large purchase quantity, the product group shown above can be calculated by adding the store inventory quantity to the forecast purchase quantity calculated by the demand forecasting apparatus 100 without the final confirmation of the person in charge of ordering. The number of recommended orders taken into account can be sent to the ordering system 123 as it is.

  Therefore, the headquarters system according to this variation is assumed to have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and the order quantity determination support system 122 uses the store ordering terminal 125 for the above-described basic products. It is assumed that the ordering data is automatically sent to the ordering system 123 without the operation of the person in charge of ordering.

  Next, processing from special sales planning to automatic ordering for a standard product in the headquarters system including the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to this modification will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the above-described processing in the head office system according to the present embodiment.

  In the processing procedure shown in FIG. 5, similarly to the processing procedure shown in FIG. 4 (steps S401 to S404), processing up to determining that the sales of all stores satisfy the standard is performed (steps S501 to S504).

  Then, the order quantity determination support system 122 automatically determines the order quantity of the standard product based on the calculated predicted purchase quantity and the stock status of each store (step S505).

  Then, the ordering system 123 requests each orderer to place an order based on the order quantity of each standard product determined by the order quantity determination support system 122 (step S506).

  As described above, in this modification, automatic ordering for a specific standard product is executed. As described above, in this modified example, if a selection standard for a specific standard product to be automatically ordered is set in advance, the process is automatically executed. As described in the first embodiment, since the automatic ordering system linked with the demand prediction apparatus 100 has high prediction accuracy, it is automatically applied to a standard product whose predicted purchase quantity is affected by a sale product. Order can be applied.

  In the above-described embodiment, the product group that is the target for calculating the number of purchases is not particularly defined. However, depending on the size of the retail store, there are many types of products to be sold, and the processing load may be too large to perform the above-described processing after including all products.

In the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the above-described embodiment, a large amount of calculation is required when the regression coefficient for the regression equation is calculated by the regression coefficient calculation unit 112 and the predicted purchase number by the predicted purchase number calculation unit 113. It is time to calculate. Although the amount of calculation differs depending on the calculation method, for example, when the number of elements of the matrix to be calculated is n, the amount of calculation is approximately proportional to n ³ . As described above, the largest influence on the increase / decrease in the calculation amount is the number of product types included in the product group to be predicted.

  Although the computation speed has been increased with the recent development of computers, the number of products in the prediction target product group is the maximum, which is the number of all types of products displayed in the store within the prediction target period. For this reason, there is a possibility that there will be more than 10,000 types in super large stores. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the product group to be predicted.

《Interaction product group》
On the other hand, the prediction target product group is also an interacting product group that represents a range of interacting product purchases. Therefore, if the interactive commodity group is easily divided, the effective interaction is cut and the prediction accuracy is lowered.

Conversely, the interactive product group expresses the customer's product purchase pattern, so if you set a large interactive product group, multiple customer product purchase patterns will be included in it, in that case Product purchase patterns are averaged. For this reason, the characteristic which the original individual customer's merchandise purchase pattern has becomes thin, and as a result, prediction accuracy falls.
Therefore, an example of an effective product group classification method is shown below.

  That is, in the modification shown below, the product group stored in the storage unit 111, in other words, the product group for which the number of purchases is calculated, classifies a plurality of products purchased by the customer according to a predetermined rule. An example will be described. In this way, by classifying the products for sale by the product group, it is possible to calculate the predicted purchase number of each product while reducing the processing load of the demand prediction device 100.

(Modification 2 of the first embodiment)
In the second modification of the first embodiment, as an example of the product group classification method, the storage unit 111 stores the product group classified based on the customer classification. The storage unit 111 of the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the present modification stores a product purchase history indicating products that the customer has purchased in the past. Then, an example is given in which products are classified by using the products purchased by the customer within a predetermined period in the past as a product group. Moreover, the customer who is the object of the reference when classifying the products may be one or a plurality of customers.

  Further, in this modification, it is assumed that a product group division for dividing the product group is provided based on the product purchase history of each customer stored in the storage unit 111. A plurality of products classified by the product group classification unit is defined as a product group, and the predicted purchase number of each product included in the product group is calculated.

  In addition to data indicating the number of purchases, the purchase number database of the storage unit 111 according to the present modification includes data such as store for each product, date, time, cash register number, receipt number, and purchase price, A member number for identifying the customer is stored in association with each other. As described above, in this modified example, in addition to detailed data representing the purchase history of each product, the customer who purchased the product is stored in association with each other.

  In recent years, many retail stores provide customers with membership cards, point cards, and the like. Some offer discounts for merchandise, incentives such as exchanging gifts, etc., or have a credit card payment function, and there are retail companies and business models that are popular.

  Since such a membership card is issued for each customer, it is possible to identify individual customers of purchase data at a store where the usage rate of the membership card is high. Therefore, in this modification, the product group sorting unit extracts purchase data associated with the membership number from the information stored in the purchase number database, and the product group sorted for each customer, that is, the customer grouped product group. Is generated. As described above, in this modification, it is possible to combine products purchased by the same customer into a product group as products related to each other.

  This customer-classified product group can be regarded as having a purchase pattern for each customer. Further, since past data of about 1 to 3 months, for example, is extracted according to the coefficient calculation period, it is also a purchase pattern for each recent customer. If this extraction is too long, the purchasing pattern is averaged, and the recent purchasing tendency is difficult to reflect in the prediction.

  Therefore, when the predicted number of purchases of each product is calculated using this customer grouped product group, prediction close to the maximum accuracy becomes possible. Furthermore, since it is a product group classification method having a smaller interaction compared to the conventional product classification method, the calculation time can be further shortened.

(Modification 3 of the first embodiment)
In the third modification of the first embodiment, as an example of the product group classification method, the storage unit 111 stores the product group classified based on the time zone in which the product is sold. In the purchase number database of the storage unit 111 of the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the present modification, in addition to data indicating the number of purchases, a store for each product, date, time, cash register number, receipt number, purchase amount, etc. In addition to the above data, a membership number for identifying a customer is stored in association with each other.

  And in the demand prediction apparatus 100 concerning this modification, the product group division part was provided, and this product group division part was set in the past based on the information memorize | stored in the purchase number database of the memory | storage part 111. FIG. Within the period, the product group is divided by the products purchased in each time zone, and the product group is generated.

  In the second modification described above, an example in which products are classified for each member has been described. However, there are cases where the penetration rate of membership cards varies greatly between retail companies and stores, and products may not be classified for each member. Therefore, in the product classification unit according to this modification, purchase data is extracted from the purchase number database for each time zone, and these products are classified for each time zone.

  The time zone to be classified is, for example, every hour or every 10 minutes. It does not necessarily have to be a fixed interval. In addition, a relatively short time interval may be used in a time zone in which the number of customers visiting the store is large, and a time interval may be set longer in a time zone in which the number of store visits per hour is small than in a time zone in which the number of store visits is large.

(Modification 4 of the first embodiment)
In the fourth modification of the first embodiment, as an example of the product group classification method, the storage unit 111 stores the product group classified based on the time zone in which the product is sold. In the purchase number database of the storage unit 111 of the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the present modification, in addition to data indicating the number of purchases, a store for each product, date, time, cash register number, receipt number, purchase amount, etc. In addition to the above data, a membership number for identifying a customer is stored in association with each other.

  The demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the present modification includes a product group sorting unit. After the product group sorting unit classifies the total purchase amount into a plurality of set total purchase amount zones, the storage unit 111 Based on the information stored in the purchase number database, products purchased for each total purchase price range are classified within a predetermined period in the past, and a product group is generated.

  In the merchandise group division unit according to the present embodiment, a plurality of purchase amount ranges for dividing the total purchase amount of the customer's one purchase (the settlement at the cash register is counted as one) are predetermined. And Then, the product group sorting unit extracts purchase data for each purchase price range, sorts the products purchased in the purchase price range, and generates a product group. And in the demand prediction apparatus 100 concerning this modification, the predicted purchase number is calculated about each product of the produced | generated product group.

  In the product group division section, for example, every 1000 yen, every 100 yen, etc. are set as the purchase amount range. It does not necessarily have to be a fixed amount of money. In a purchase amount range where the number of customers per purchase amount range is large, relatively small amount intervals may be used.

(Modification 5 of the first embodiment)
The product group sorting method is not limited to the sorting method described above, and other sorting methods may be used. Furthermore, a plurality of classification methods may be combined.

  If the method of classifying according to the time zone and the method of classifying according to the purchase amount zone are finely divided, the interaction is broken and the prediction accuracy is lowered.

  Compared to the method of dividing products for each customer with high accuracy, the probability of one customer coming to the store in the same time zone (strictly at the cashier) is less than one hour. Causes a decrease in prediction accuracy. Similarly, a purchase amount range of 1000 yen or less also causes a decrease in prediction accuracy. However, there is a possibility that the number of products is too large in the time zone classification of 1 hour or more and the purchase price zone of 1000 yen or more.

  Therefore, the product group sorting unit included in the demand prediction device 100 according to the present modification is an example of sorting products by combining the time zone category and the purchase price zone category.

  The merchandise group sorting unit according to this modification classifies the merchandise by combining an hour unit that is a time zone and a 1000 yen unit that is a total purchase amount. In other words, the product group sorting unit classifies the purchase data from the information stored in the purchase number database of the storage unit 111 by combining 1 hour unit and 1000 yen unit, and the product group sorted by time / purchase amount range. That is, a product group based on the time / purchase amount zone classification is generated.

  In this modified example, since the membership card is not widespread, even if the classification based on the membership cannot be performed, the prediction accuracy is improved by using the combination of the time zone and the total purchase amount zone as described above. And the calculation time can be shortened.

  As described above, according to the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment and the modified example, it is possible to predict the demand of each product after incorporating an interaction in general product purchase including special sales. it can. Thereby, highly accurate demand prediction can be performed for every goods.

  The demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment and the modified example is suitable for a series of operations from a special sale plan at the headquarters to a product order at a store in a supermarket. Therefore, maintain and expand sales and profits at the total level of all stores at the stage of special sales planning, reduce waste loss and opportunity loss at the store order level, use the recommended number of orders, and adopt automatic ordering to save labor Also contribute to.

  The demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment and the modified example has a small residual that incorporates the interaction of product purchase with respect to a sale target product and a non-sale sale product in a special sale at a large-scale retail store such as a supermarket. Provide accurate demand forecasts.

  The demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment and the modification includes a control device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM (Reed Only Memory) and a RAM, an external storage device such as an HDD and a CD drive device, and a display device. And a display device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and has a hardware configuration using a normal computer.

  A demand prediction program executed by the demand prediction apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment and the modification is a file in an installable format or an executable format, and is a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, DVD ( The program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as Digital Versatile Disk).

  Further, the demand prediction program executed by the demand prediction apparatus 100 of the present embodiment may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. Moreover, you may comprise so that the demand prediction program performed with the demand prediction apparatus 100 of this embodiment may be provided or distributed via networks, such as the internet.

  Moreover, you may comprise so that the demand prediction program of this embodiment may be previously incorporated in ROM etc. and provided.

  The demand prediction program executed by the demand prediction apparatus 100 of the present embodiment has a module configuration including the above-described units (input reception unit, predicted purchase number calculation unit, regression coefficient calculation unit), and as actual hardware The CPU (processor) reads the demand forecast program from the storage medium and executes it, so that the above-described units are loaded onto the main storage device. To be generated.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Demand prediction apparatus, 111 ... Memory | storage part, 112 ... Regression coefficient calculation part, 113 ... Predictive purchase number calculation part, 114 ... Input reception part

JP 2004-334326 A

Claims (6)

Storage means for storing the number of purchases in a first predetermined period for each product constituting a product group composed of a plurality of products, and variation factor information obtained by quantifying factors that vary the number of purchases of each product in the product group When,
Based on the storage means, a first regression coefficient indicating the degree to which each variable factor information included in the product group contributes to the change in the number of purchases of the arbitrary product, and any product A regression coefficient calculating means for calculating a second regression coefficient indicating the degree to which each number of purchases of other products contributes to fluctuations in the number of purchases of the arbitrary product,
Based on the first regression coefficient and the second regression coefficient calculated by the regression coefficient calculation means, and the number of purchases and the variation factor information for each product stored in the storage means, the product A predicted purchase number calculating means for calculating an estimated purchase number indicating the number of purchases that are likely to be purchased within the second predetermined period, which is a period after the first predetermined period;
A demand forecasting device characterized by comprising: The regression coefficient calculating means indicates the number of purchases Y to _n of the product n in the first predetermined period by the following formula:
Y ~ _n = _{a n1 Y ~ 1 + a n2} Y ~ 2 + ... + a n (n1) Y ~ n1 + a n (n + 1) Y ~ n + 1 + ... + a nN Y ~ N + b n0 + b n1 X n1 + b _n2 X _n2 + ... + b _nM X _nM
X _n1 , ..., X _nM : M types of variation factor information Y ~ ₁ , ..., Y ~ _n-1 , Y ~ _n , Y ~ _{n + 1} , ..., Y ~ _{N for} product _n : included in product group Number of purchases for each of N types of products
b _n0 : coefficient of product n which is a constant term
b _n1 ,..., b _nM : First regression coefficient for each of M types of variable factor information for product n
a _n1 ,..., a _{n (n-1)} , a _{n (n + 1)} ,..., a _nN : the second regression coefficient of other products with respect to product n The above formula is generated for each of N types of products, For each period of M + N times or more as the first predetermined period, the past variation factor information of each product is represented by X _n1 ,..., X _nM of the above formula, and the past purchase number of each product is represented by Y˜ ₁ ,..., Y to _N to calculate the first regression coefficients b _n0 , b _n1 ... b _nM (n = 1... N) and the second regression coefficients a _n1 ... A _nN (n = 1... N) To
The demand prediction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The predicted purchase quantity calculation means indicates the product n included in the N products constituting the product group by the following formula:
b _n0 + b _n1 X _n1 + b _n2 X _n2 +... + b _nM X _nM = −a _n1 Y ₁ −a _n2 Y ₂ −... −a _{n (n−1)} Y _n−1 + Y _n −a _{n (n + 1 )} Y _{n + 1} −… −a _nN Y _N
Y ₁ ,..., Y _n−1 , Y _n , Y _{n + 1} ,..., Y _N : predicted number of purchases of each of N types of products included in the product group, for each of the products in the second predetermined period After applying the variable factor information to X _n1 ,..., X _nM of the above formula, the above formula is generated for each of N types of products, and N composing the product group is generated based on the generated N equations. the predicted purchase number of pieces of each product _{Y 1, Y 2, ...,} Y n, ..., by calculating the Y _n,
The demand forecasting device according to claim 2 characterized by things. The product group stored in the storage means is a group of a plurality of products purchased by a customer classified according to a predetermined rule;
The demand forecasting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterized by things. The product group stored in the storage means is a product group composed of products purchased by a given customer within a predetermined period, a product composed of products purchased every predetermined time period Group, or a group of products made up of products purchased for each predetermined amount of money, which divides the total purchase amount paid by the customer in one transaction,
The demand forecasting device according to claim 4 characterized by things. Storage means for storing the number of purchases in a first predetermined period for each product constituting a product group composed of a plurality of products, and variation factor information obtained by quantifying factors that vary the number of purchases of each product in the product group For computers with
Based on the storage means, a first regression coefficient indicating the degree to which each variable factor information included in the product group contributes to the change in the number of purchases of the arbitrary product, and any product A regression coefficient calculating step for calculating a second regression coefficient indicating the degree to which each number of purchases of other products contributes to fluctuations in the number of purchases of the arbitrary product,
Based on the first regression coefficient and the second regression coefficient calculated by the regression coefficient calculation step, the number of purchases for each product and the variation factor information stored in the storage means, the product A predicted purchase number calculating step for calculating a predicted purchase number indicating the number of purchases that are likely to be purchased within the second predetermined period each time after the first predetermined period;
A demand forecasting program characterized by comprising:

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