A simpler way to think about coffee shop inventory forecasting

Inventory forecasting sounds like something only a large company needs. For a single coffee shop, the version that matters is much smaller: how much milk, how many pastries, how much of your seasonal syrup, for next week.

The inputs are usually already sitting in your POS: historical sales, day-of-week patterns, and any known events (a local festival, a school break) that change demand.

Start narrow

Rather than forecasting every SKU, start with the handful of items that actually cause problems when you run out or over-order. Expand from there once it's proven useful.