Inside Our New Ebook: The Art and Science of Demand Sensing

Retail teams are making more decisions in less time — across many SKUs, channels, and constraints. But the tools they rely on haven’t kept up.

Today’s workflows demand clarity at the style, size, and store level, yet many teams are still reacting to lagging reports, static forecasts, and siloed data. This leads to slower decisions, missed signals, and mounting pressure on already stretched teams.

The Art & Science of Demand Sensing was created to address that gap, offering a practical, grounded look at how leading retailers are shifting from reactive planning to real-time, signal-driven decision-making.

Why Demand Sensing?

Traditional planning takes a high-level view. It’s top-down, backwards-looking, and too slow for today’s fast-moving retail environment.

Demand sensing goes deeper. It combines real-time data, machine learning, and embedded workflows to help retailers anticipate demand at the level where inventory decisions are made: by style, size, color, store, and channel.

But demand sensing isn’t just better tech. It’s about enabling a new kind of decision-making, where human intuition and algorithmic insight work together to drive margin, increase in-stock rates, and reduce manual workload.

According to McKinsey, more than 50% of retail executives say advanced analytics is a top strategic priority, but only 14% say they’re ready to act on it. That gap represents a major competitive opportunity.

In this ebook, we talk about what it takes to close it — and how teams are already doing it.

What The Art & Science of Demand Sensing Covers

We designed The Art & Science of Demand Sensing to help merchandising teams understand both the why and the how of evolving from high-level planning to granular, signal-driven decision-making.

Inside, you’ll find:

• A breakdown of five core challenges retail teams face
• An overview of demand sensing and how it differs from traditional forecasting
• A framework for combining machine-driven insights with human judgment
• Practical examples of how planners, buyers, and allocators are using demand sensing tools in their daily work
• Case studies from leading brands using Syrup to boost margin, improve in-stock rates, and cut decision time

From dynamic inventory flows to test-and-learn buying strategies, the examples inside are real, proven, and actionable.

A Resource Grounded In The Reality of Retail

At Syrup, we work with some of the most innovative brands in retail. And while every retailer’s journey is different, the themes we hear are consistent:

• “We’re sitting on too much data, but not enough insight.”
• “Our systems can’t move fast enough to support real-time decisions.”
• “Our teams are stretched thin. We need tools that make their jobs easier.”

This ebook distills what we’ve learned from helping brands overcome those challenges. It’s not just a vision of what the future could look like for brands — it’s a playbook for what’s working right now.

Designed For Those Driving Inventory Decisions

If you’re a planner, buyer, allocator, or retail exec asking:

• How can we anticipate demand shifts faster?
• How do we increase full-price sell-through without overbuying?
• How can we give our teams tools they’ll actually trust and use?

This ebook is for you.

The pressure to move fast, do more with less, and protect margin isn’t going away. But teams that rethink their approach — combining smarter tools with sharper judgment — are already seeing measurable results.

This ebook offers a look inside what leading retailers are doing right now, and how you can apply the same strategies to move faster, plan smarter, and make every unit count.

📘 Download The Art & Science of Demand Sensing and see what’s next.

‍