Keywords: Predictive Analysis, Forecasting, Time Series, Product Demand

Decision$-$Making Context: There are many reasons to forecast a firm$$s future performance. For example, predicting sales dollars may help a company determine its needed manufacturing capacity. Predicting cash flows may help the company decide if it will need a loan or not. At the individual level, an investor might forecast a company$$s earnings to evaluate a potential investment.

The goal of this lab is to forecast sales and earnings for Hike $$Em Hiking Boots, a fictitious company.

Access the text alternative for Lab $5-4$ Tableau. Will open in a new tab or window. Internet connection required.

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Required:

Using Tableau$$s forecasting options, forecast product demand for hiking boots at Hike $$Em Hiking Boots from $2025$ to $2026.$

Data: Lab $5\mathrm{.}4$ Data.xlsx

Specify the Question: What will be the monthly demand $($in boot sales$)$ for Hike $$Em Hiking Boots during $2025$ through $2027?$

Obtain the Data: Open Tableau and connect to Excel file Lab $5\mathrm{.}4$ Data.xlsx$.$

Analyze the Data: Refer to lab $5\mathrm{.}4$ in your text for additional instructions and steps.

Answer the following questions based on the details computed.

Note: Round your forecast demand and prediction bound answers to $2$ decimal places.