What is demand? Why is demand forecasting essential in marketing?

What is demand? Why is demand forecasting essential in marketing?

In today's world, human wants are unlimited and the resources to satisfy such wants limited. A want becomes a demand, when it is backed by the ability and willingness to spend the necessary resources required to fulfill it. For eg. , an individual may desire or want to buy a 'Hero Honda' bike, but he may not have sufficient cash with him to purchase it.Then it cannot be called a demand. Demand forecasting is important in order to predict the probability of demand for a product over a certain period of time on basis of which the supply is matched and profitabality determined.