Glossary
Demand & forecasting
What is forecast accuracy?
How close the forecast came to actual sales, usually measured as error.
Why it matters: It tells you how much to trust the forecast and where to add buffer. On its own it's a vanity metric; what counts is the decision it drives.
How it's worked out: A common measure is MAPE = average of |actual − forecast| ÷ actual × 100. Lower is better, but context matters by category.