Inventory planning for fashion & apparel brands.
Hero sizes sell out while slow colors pile up on the markdown rack. Forstock forecasts demand at the variant level, so you reorder the right size curve and never over-buy a collection.
Of apparel markdowns trace back to over-buying the wrong variants
Variant-level forecasting, not blended SKU averages
Typical end-of-season excess after switching to forecast-led buying
A blended SKU forecast is a lie in fashion.
Your bestseller in a Medium Black sells out in week two while the same style in XL Mustard sits until the end-of-season sale. Averaging them hides both problems. Fashion also runs on short windows — a drop has weeks, not months, to sell through, and by the time a manual reorder lands, the trend has moved. Even getting a clean read on what's selling — which sizes, which colors, which channels — can swallow hours of spreadsheet work, and the window to chase a hot variant closes before the analysis is done. Forstock forecasts every size-and-color variant independently against its own velocity and your supplier's real lead time. It tells you which variants to chase mid-season, which to stop buying, and how to shape the size curve on the next purchase order — before the markdown rack fills up.
Variant-level forecasts replace blended averages that over-buy slow sizes and starve hero ones.
What you get with Forstock
Inventory intelligence tuned for fashion & apparel.
Variant-level forecasting
Every size and color gets its own demand forecast and reorder point. No more averaging a sold-out Medium with a dead XL — Forstock plans each variant against its real velocity.
Drop & season planning
Forecast a launch from comparable historical drops, not guesswork. Forstock projects sell-through curves so you buy the right depth and width for each collection.
Markdown-risk alerts
Forstock flags variants tracking toward end-of-season excess weeks early, so you can pull marketing forward or hold the next reorder instead of discounting.
Size-curve reorder
When a style needs a chase order, Forstock shapes the size curve to actual demand — more Mediums, fewer XLs — instead of re-buying the original ratio.
Real lead-time reordering
Your factory says 30 days; the last three orders took 41, 38, and 52. Forstock reorders against actual lead-time history so chase orders land before the window closes.
Cash-aware buying
Forstock shows the working capital tied up per collection and steers spend toward the variants that will actually sell through at full price.
Common challenges
Problems fashion & apparel brands face, solved.
Blended SKU forecasts hide variant-level reality. Forstock forecasts each size and color independently, so you chase the Mediums that are selling and stop re-buying the XLs that aren't — keeping full-price sell-through high and markdowns low.
Manual reordering uses the supplier's quoted lead time, which is usually optimistic. Forstock reorders against your actual lead-time history per supplier, so chase orders for in-demand variants arrive while the drop is still selling.
Over-buying the wrong width and depth is the root cause. Forstock plans each drop from comparable historical sell-through and flags markdown risk weeks early, so excess never accumulates in the first place.
Before vs. after
Your inventory with and without Forstock.
−25% end-of-season excess
Reorder the right size curve, every drop.
Getting started
Live in under a day.
Connect your store
Connect your store in one click. Forstock immediately reads your full variant catalog, sales history, and current stock — size and color included.
Forecast every variant
Forstock builds a demand forecast for each size-and-color variant from your sales history and seasonality. No spreadsheets, no manual training.
Buy and reorder with confidence
Get a daily reorder queue shaped to real demand and lead times, plus drop plans and markdown alerts. You review and send POs in minutes.
“We stopped buying XL just because the line sheet had it. Forstock's variant forecasts cut our end-of-season markdowns by nearly a third in two collections.”
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Forstock treats every variant as its own SKU with its own sales velocity, seasonality, and reorder point. It never blends a sold-out Medium with a slow-moving XL into a single average — each variant is forecast and reordered independently.
Yes. For new styles, Forstock uses comparable historical drops and category-level baselines to project a sell-through curve, then rapidly recalibrates as the first real sales come in.
It detects recurring seasonal patterns per variant from your history — so a swimwear Medium's June forecast reflects June demand, not a flat 12-month average.
Yes. When a style needs a chase order, Forstock recommends the size and color ratio based on actual demand to date, not the original buy ratio — so you re-buy what's selling.
By preventing over-buying up front and flagging variants tracking toward excess weeks early, so you can adjust marketing or hold reorders before discounting becomes the only option.
Yes. Forstock tracks each supplier's actual lead-time history and times reorders so chase orders for in-demand variants land while the drop is still selling.
Honest take
Is Forstock right for your fashion & apparel brand?
A great fit if…
- Your catalog has real variant depth — multiple sizes and colors per style where demand differs across them.
- You run seasonal collections or drops with short sell-through windows.
- End-of-season markdowns are a recurring drain on margin.
- Your reorders rely on factories with lead times you can't fully trust.
Maybe not, if…
- You sell a single one-size, one-color product with no variant complexity.
- You hold no inventory and dropship every order on demand.
- You're not on a supported platform and have no plans to connect a store.
Plan inventory like the best fashion & apparel brands.
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