App developer Sickweather predicts OTC allergy sales

BALTIMORE, Md. –  App developer Sickweather on Tuesday announced it can predict allergy remedy sales through the analysis of user-submitted reports of seasonal allergies and flu.



"Like flu season, we typically see peak allergy activity with the span of a couple of months, but with the forecast models we are developing, we will be able to narrow that down to a week,” stated Graham Dodge, CEO Sickweather. “These forecasts can be used to predict volume of OTC allergy and flu remedy sales, and that can provide a significant advantage to our enterprise customers for strategic marketing and supply chain decisions.”



According to the study, adult allergy remedy sales had a 0.9r correlation coefficient (out of a perfect 1.0r) compared to Sickweather data for allergies, while adult flu remedy sales had a correlation coefficient of 0.8r.  The case study also highlights the implication of Sickweather’s ability to now forecast over-the-counter sales for allergy and flu remedies.



Sickweather also offers SickScore through its app, which provides the user a relative threat index of contagious illness in their immediate area. SickScore works by analyzing nearby contagious illnesses found in over 6 million reports gathered and processed each month from combined sources including: social media, the Sickweather community and Sickweather partner apps like The Weather Channel.



An algorithm then measures the nearby illnesses by their relative reproductive score along with other demographic factors, such as population density.