Might a pharmacy know demand is rising before customers notice?
Systems often see trends before people see shortages.
Customers usually recognize demand changes when products become difficult to find. Pharmacies often see the trend earlier.
The hidden mechanism is signal accumulation. Small increases in purchases, faster inventory turnover, and changing reorder frequencies create early indicators of rising demand.
Imagine a product that begins selling slightly faster each week. Individual customers may not notice the change, but inventory systems reveal the trend long before shortages occur.
A second-order effect develops when pharmacies respond to those signals. Early adjustments can prevent stockouts, making the original demand increase less visible to customers.
People often think shortages reveal rising demand. Well-managed systems try to detect rising demand before shortages ever appear.
