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 WEBINAR ON DEMAND 

Modernize Your Analytics and Accelerate Your Move to Looker with Confidence

Migrating your Business Intelligence platform to Looker presents a powerful opportunity to modernize your data stack, but it requires careful planning and execution. This webinar provides a strategic roadmap for navigating the complexities of migration, from initial assessment to final rollout. We will focus on turning common challenges into strategic advantages by leveraging proven best practices and automation tools, ensuring you build a scalable and trusted analytics foundation on Looker.

How to Use Forecasting in Looker: A Step-by-Step Guide to Predict Future Trends

Looker Forecasting Benefits

Why Forecasting Matters

Most dashboards only tell you what already happened. You see last month’s revenue, last week’s website traffic, or yesterday’s conversions. These insights are useful, but not enough for proactive planning.

Teams often need to know what will likely happen next.


Looker Forecasting Graphs solve this problem by extending historical data into the future using built-in predictive models. There is no need for Python notebooks, spreadsheet exports, or external forecasting tools. Everything happens inside Looker.


Forecasting shifts your analytics from describing the past to predicting upcoming patterns, which directly improves planning, budgeting, and operational decisions.


What Looker Forecasting Is

Looker Forecasting uses internal statistical models to project future values based on patterns in your existing data. When enabled, Looker analyzes trend lines, seasonal cycles, and historical changes, then predicts what future periods might look like.


Supported Chart Types

Forecasting currently works with the following visualization types:

Charts (Cartesian)

  • Line

  • Area

  • Column

  • Bar

  • Scatter Plot


Text and Table Visuals

  • Single Value

  • Table

  • Table Legacy

  • Word Cloud


Note: Community visualizations are not supported for forecasting yet.

This creates a seamless experience because you can forecast directly inside the charts you already use.


Why Forecasting in Looker Matters for Business Teams

Forecasting is not simply a feature. It changes how teams think and act. Here is the practical value:

1. Plan Ahead With Confidence

Forecast revenue, traffic, engagement, or demand and act based on expected outcomes instead of reactive patterns.

2. Build Realistic Targets

Use predicted values as the baseline for KPIs, OKRs, and capacity planning.

3. Detect Anomalies Early

Compare forecasted values against actuals and spot unusual deviations before they become problems.

4. No Technical Skills Required

Everything happens inside the Looker interface. Analysts at any skill level can enable forecasting.

Forecasting helps organizations become proactive rather than reactive.


How to Use Forecasting in Looker: Step-by-Step


Forecasting Cycle in Looker

Below is the full process for configuring forecasting inside an Explore.

1. Open an Explore

Begin with any dataset that contains a time-based field such as Date, Week, or Month.

2. Add Your Fields

You must include:

  • One time dimension

  • At least one measure (up to five measures can be forecasted at once)

Make sure the time dimension has dimension fill enabled.

3. Sort by the Time Field

Sort your Explore in descending order so the most recent data appears first.

4. Open the Forecast Menu

Inside the visualization settings, locate the Forecast panel.


5. Configure Forecast Settings

Select Field  Choose the measure or measures you want to forecast.

Length  Set how far ahead you want projections, such as 5 days, 3 weeks, or 6 to 12 months.

Prediction Interval  Turn this on if you want Looker to display confidence ranges around the forecasted values.

Seasonality Options

  • Automatic: Let Looker detect repeating patterns

  • Custom: Specify the cycle length, such as 12 for monthly seasonality

  • None: Trend-only forecasting without cycles

6. Run the Forecast

Looker immediately displays:

  • Forecasted values

  • Trend continuity

  • Optional prediction intervals

Your dashboard now shows both historical performance and future projections.


Looker Forecasting Dashboard

Example Use Cases

Sales Forecasting

Estimate next month’s revenue, order volume, or pipeline health.

Website and Marketing Analytics

Predict future traffic, conversions, or campaign impact without moving data into external tools.

Inventory and Demand Planning

Plan stock levels and procurement based on anticipated demand trends.

Customer Support

Forecast ticket volume and prepare staffing schedules based on projected workload.

These predictions help teams make timely decisions and match resources to future requirements.


Key Benefits Summary

Capability

Business Advantage

Built-in forecasting models

No external tools or scripts needed

Compatible with native charts

Faster adoption across teams

Forecast up to five measures

Supports multi-metric planning

Confidence intervals

Better visibility into uncertainty

Trend and seasonality detection

More accurate future projections


 
 
 

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