Allocation Analyst
Catalyst Brands — Bengaluru, India
Platform: Blue Yonder · Type: Full-time
Experience: 3-5 years
Modules: Allocation
Job description
The Analyst will be part of Planning & Allocation Team where you will leverage your skills and business acumen to achieve the organization and team goals.
Primary Allocation Responsibilities:
• Execute comprehensive allocation strategies to support merchandise assortment plans, ensuring consistent
alignment with business objectives and buyer direction.
• Manage the end-to-end inventory allocation process utilizing JDA (or other relevant inventory management
systems), ensuring timely and accurate product flow across all retail locations.
• Continuously monitor and analyze store performance, sales trends, and regional/seasonal demand to make
data-driven allocation adjustments that enhance product availability and minimize stockouts or overstocks.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams—including Buying Units (Buyers, Assistant Buyers, Assortment
Planners, and Inventory Demand Analysts)—to support pre-season and in-season merchandise planning
decisions.
• Conduct in-depth hindsight reviews of past seasons to identify key learnings and apply insights to improve future
allocation and assortment planning strategies.
• Provide clear, strategic recommendations to business units through ongoing review of critical business
performance reports, ensuring decisions are backed by data and market intelligence.
• Proactively manage residual inventory and warehouse stock by ensuring timely allocation to stores, mitigating
potential overstocking or markdowns.
• Evaluate and initiate channel-to-channel transfers, Return to Warehouse (RTW), Return to Vendor (RTV),
Transfers and Returns (TARs), and Enterprise Inventory Reserve (EIR) actions to optimize inventory health.
Primary Replenishment Responsibilities:
• Drive Instock and adhoc analysis to find opportunities and risks, providing actionable insights to Business Units,
ASMs, and Inventory Distribution Analysts to meet sales, profit, and inventory goals.
• Drive and perform periodic assortment optimization by utilizing tools, providing insights to Inventory Distribution
Analysts and Business Units, and managing processes for expansion and discontinuation.
• Review store level inventory ensuring it aligns with expectations, and action when stores are outside of tolerance.
Identify and action store level opportunities through enhanced analytics and Plano communications.
• Manage demand planning and buy quantification in collaboration with BUs and Sourcing teams. Responsible for
sending supplier information and supporting the demand planning team with data.
• Analyze and quantify vendor projections, fill rates, and in-stock trends.
• Run replenishment orders. Review and release of all manual order types. Adjust SOQs on an exception basis and
review/action on exception reports for ordering.
• Review and action Target Inventory/Minimum Safety Stock at all locations (Warehouse, Store, DLC’s)
• Manage system setup and maintenance of assortment by activating and deactivating SKUs as per buyers' intent and
optimization.
• Review All Replenishment Parameters to achieve optimal inventory levels and develop and communicate
parameter changes needed for product/category to ASMs, IDAs & Business units.
• Maintain logs for parameters, supersessions and safety stock templates.
• Monitor key performance indicator (KPI) reports to track inventory levels and sales performance. Use these reports
to provide actionable insights and support data-driven decision-making.
• Deliver an outstanding in-store and online experience through balanced, optimized inventory by channel, volume
grade and climate to provide compelling and productive assortment for our customer.
• Identify, analyze, and respond to replenishment ordering and low/high weeks of supply exceptions or deviations
from standard inventory needs.
• Partner with ASMs and Business units to develop and implement inventory strategies to build inventory, maximize
sales, and increase productivity
Core Competencies & Accomplishments:
• 2 to 4 years of experience in Retail Supply Chain - planning and allocation, merchandising planning,
inventory management and forecasting
• Critical thinking, Problem Solving &Decision-making
• Business planning and financial analysis, Allocation, Planning, Buying, Merchandising, Inventory Control
and Supply Chain knowledge
• Proficiency in Blue Yonder INFORM/JDA/EFAs or other planning and allocation operating system
• Experience with Microstrategy Planning & Reporting tools a plus
• Proficiency in intermediate to advanced excel.
Primary Allocation Responsibilities:
• Execute comprehensive allocation strategies to support merchandise assortment plans, ensuring consistent
alignment with business objectives and buyer direction.
• Manage the end-to-end inventory allocation process utilizing JDA (or other relevant inventory management
systems), ensuring timely and accurate product flow across all retail locations.
• Continuously monitor and analyze store performance, sales trends, and regional/seasonal demand to make
data-driven allocation adjustments that enhance product availability and minimize stockouts or overstocks.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams—including Buying Units (Buyers, Assistant Buyers, Assortment
Planners, and Inventory Demand Analysts)—to support pre-season and in-season merchandise planning
decisions.
• Conduct in-depth hindsight reviews of past seasons to identify key learnings and apply insights to improve future
allocation and assortment planning strategies.
• Provide clear, strategic recommendations to business units through ongoing review of critical business
performance reports, ensuring decisions are backed by data and market intelligence.
• Proactively manage residual inventory and warehouse stock by ensuring timely allocation to stores, mitigating
potential overstocking or markdowns.
• Evaluate and initiate channel-to-channel transfers, Return to Warehouse (RTW), Return to Vendor (RTV),
Transfers and Returns (TARs), and Enterprise Inventory Reserve (EIR) actions to optimize inventory health.
Primary Replenishment Responsibilities:
• Drive Instock and adhoc analysis to find opportunities and risks, providing actionable insights to Business Units,
ASMs, and Inventory Distribution Analysts to meet sales, profit, and inventory goals.
• Drive and perform periodic assortment optimization by utilizing tools, providing insights to Inventory Distribution
Analysts and Business Units, and managing processes for expansion and discontinuation.
• Review store level inventory ensuring it aligns with expectations, and action when stores are outside of tolerance.
Identify and action store level opportunities through enhanced analytics and Plano communications.
• Manage demand planning and buy quantification in collaboration with BUs and Sourcing teams. Responsible for
sending supplier information and supporting the demand planning team with data.
• Analyze and quantify vendor projections, fill rates, and in-stock trends.
• Run replenishment orders. Review and release of all manual order types. Adjust SOQs on an exception basis and
review/action on exception reports for ordering.
• Review and action Target Inventory/Minimum Safety Stock at all locations (Warehouse, Store, DLC’s)
• Manage system setup and maintenance of assortment by activating and deactivating SKUs as per buyers' intent and
optimization.
• Review All Replenishment Parameters to achieve optimal inventory levels and develop and communicate
parameter changes needed for product/category to ASMs, IDAs & Business units.
• Maintain logs for parameters, supersessions and safety stock templates.
• Monitor key performance indicator (KPI) reports to track inventory levels and sales performance. Use these reports
to provide actionable insights and support data-driven decision-making.
• Deliver an outstanding in-store and online experience through balanced, optimized inventory by channel, volume
grade and climate to provide compelling and productive assortment for our customer.
• Identify, analyze, and respond to replenishment ordering and low/high weeks of supply exceptions or deviations
from standard inventory needs.
• Partner with ASMs and Business units to develop and implement inventory strategies to build inventory, maximize
sales, and increase productivity
Core Competencies & Accomplishments:
• 2 to 4 years of experience in Retail Supply Chain - planning and allocation, merchandising planning,
inventory management and forecasting
• Critical thinking, Problem Solving &Decision-making
• Business planning and financial analysis, Allocation, Planning, Buying, Merchandising, Inventory Control
and Supply Chain knowledge
• Proficiency in Blue Yonder INFORM/JDA/EFAs or other planning and allocation operating system
• Experience with Microstrategy Planning & Reporting tools a plus
• Proficiency in intermediate to advanced excel.