• Regression Method: It assumed that there exists a linear relation with sales volume as dependent variable and some predetermined economic factors as independent variables.

• Managerial Assessment Method: In many case it is not easy to determine the independent variables in a regression. In such cases managers who have insight about the dynamics in market place use their own assessments to forecast the future sales targets. Sometimes the managerial assessments are used as a contributor to the regression results.

• Special Purpose Methods: There exist three special purpose methods to analyze the determinants of sales to make more realistic sales forecasts. The first one is industry analysis in which the individual company sales forecast is based on total industry sales. In the product analysis method, the focus is on individual product demand. It is also possible for some special sectors such as component manufacturing to use the forecast of the clients’ demand forecasts and this method is named as latest use method. 

• Combined Methods: It is the most proper approach to combine two or more of the methods mentioned above in order to fully address the company specific factors such as size, structure, suppliers and seasonality etc.