I was delighted to discover a plentiful choice of pumpkins still available in my local Waitrose late afternoon on Saturday. With less than 24 hours to Halloween, it was essential to procure this item and being the kind of shopper that tends to dash in on the day (at most, the day before), this could have ended badly.

As I was not the only last minute shopper hovering at the pumpkin section, I can only assume that several other households are also afflicted with the modern disease of "last- minute-li-ness." I remember being hauled around the supermarket by my Mum on a similar mission only to be bitterly disappointed by empty shelves, bereft of pumpkins and having to improvise with a swede (not the same and a lot harder to carve - trust me).

But how do you ensure there are just enough pumpkins for the early and late shoppers? Our supermarkets have come a long way in the last decade in predicting what consumers will want and when, by using demand forecasting techniques and analytical capabilities to help achieve their goals. You can take a look at how Waitrose achieves this or read more about global retailers doing similar ...

I’m mightily impressed that I was able to achieve my shopping goal on Saturday and look forward to the next challenges: securing sparklers and sausages on 5th November closely followed by stockpiling sprouts and smoked salmon on Christmas Eve. Happy last minute shopping!