Inventory forecasting
The inventory forecasting module analyzes sales velocity from the last 90 days and predicts the stock depletion date for each product. The dashboard lets you quickly identify products that need restocking.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”- The plugin fetches sales data from the last 90 days (orders with completed and processing status)
- It calculates the average daily sales (sales velocity) for each product
- Based on the current stock level and average sales, it predicts the depletion date
- Products are classified by restocking urgency
- Results are cached in a transient for 1 hour
Dashboard
Section titled “Dashboard”Go to WooCommerce > Inventory Forecast to open the forecasting dashboard.
Summary cards
Section titled “Summary cards”Three status cards are displayed at the top of the dashboard:
| Card | Condition | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Depletion within 7 days | Red |
| Warning | Depletion within 30 days | Yellow |
| Healthy | Depletion in 30+ days | Green |
Each card shows the number of products in that category.
Products table
Section titled “Products table”Below the cards a table is displayed with details for each product:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Product | Product name with a link to the editor |
| Current stock | Current quantity in stock |
| Average daily sales | Average number of units sold per day (over 90 days) |
| Days to depletion | Estimated number of days until zero stock |
| Forecast date | Predicted stock depletion date |
| Suggested order | Recommended quantity to order (30-day coverage) |
The table is sorted by default on the “Days to depletion” column (ascending), so the products that need restocking soonest appear at the top.
Suggested order quantity
Section titled “Suggested order quantity”The suggested order quantity is calculated using the formula:
suggested_order = average_daily_sales * 30This value represents the quantity covering 30 days of demand.
Column in the products list
Section titled “Column in the products list”The module adds a Forecast column to the products list (Products > All products). The column displays the estimated number of days to stock depletion with a colored indicator:
- Red (critical): fewer than 7 days
- Yellow (warning): 7-30 days
- Green (healthy): more than 30 days
Products without stock tracking or with stock management disabled do not display a forecast.
Data source
Section titled “Data source”Sales data is fetched directly from the database using a SQL query on the tables:
{prefix}woocommerce_order_items- order line items{prefix}woocommerce_order_itemmeta- line item metadata (quantity, product_id)
Only orders with wc-completed and wc-processing status from the last 90 days are taken into account.
Forecasting results are stored in the WordPress transient cache with a lifetime of 1 hour:
- Transient key:
polski_pro_inventory_forecast - Expiration time: 3600 seconds (1 hour)
- The cache is automatically refreshed after expiration
This avoids slow SQL queries on every dashboard load.
Enabling the module
Section titled “Enabling the module”The module is controlled by a toggle on the Polski modules screen (module key inventory_forecast):
Polski > Modules > Inventory ForecastAfter enabling the module, the Inventory Forecast item appears automatically in the WooCommerce menu.