Allocation Analyst

Catalyst Brands India; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 700,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Catalyst Brands India is seeking an Allocation Analyst in Bengaluru to join the Planning & Allocation Team. You will design and execute allocation strategies aligned with merchandising goals, manage end-to-end inventory flow, and collaborate with Buyers, Assortment Planners, and Inventory Demand Analysts to optimize product availability.

You will monitor store performance, analyze sales trends, and drive replenishment with data-driven decisions, ensuring inventory health and maximized turns

Qualifications

• 2 to 4 years of experience in Retail Supply Chain - planning and allocation, merchandising planning, inventory management and forecasting.
• Proficiency in planning and reporting tools is a plus.
• Proficiency in intermediate to advanced Excel.

Responsibilities

• Execute allocation strategies to support merchandise plans and ensure alignment with objectives.
• Manage end-to-end inventory allocation and monitor performance to minimize stockouts.
• Collaborate with Buyers, Assortment Planners, and Inventory Demand Analysts on planning decisions.
• Conduct hindsight reviews of past seasons to improve future strategies.
• Provide data-driven recommendations through KPI reviews for business units.

Skills

Critical thinking

Problem Solving

Decision making

Business planning

Forecasting

Tools

Blue Yonder INFORM

JDA

EFAs

MicroStrategy

Excel

Job description

About Catalyst Brands

Catalyst Brands is a leading U.S.-based retail organization formed in 2025 through the merger of JCPenney and SPARC Group, combining multiple iconic fashion brands under one umbrella. The company manages a diversified portfolio of well-known brands including Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Nautica, Lucky Brand, and JCPenney. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Catalyst Brands focuses on delivering modern retail experiences while leveraging the heritage of established global brands. With a workforce of over tens of thousands and multi-billion-dollar revenue, the organization operates at a large scale across retail, e-commerce, and supply chain domains. The company emphasizes innovation, digital transformation, and customer-centric strategies to enhance brand value and consumer engagement. Catalyst Brands is expanding its global presence, including a growing capability centre in India that supports technology, digital operations, and analytics. It aims to drive operational excellence and business growth by integrating technology, data-driven insights, and efficient retail practices.

Overview

Allocation Analyst

About Catalyst Brands

Catalyst Brands is a leading U.S.-based retail organization formed in 2025 through the merger of JCPenney and SPARC Group, combining multiple iconic fashion brands under one umbrella. The company manages a diversified portfolio of well-known brands including Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Nautica, Lucky Brand, and JCPenney. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Catalyst Brands focuses on delivering modern retail experiences while leveraging the heritage of established global brands. With a workforce of over tens of thousands and multi-billion-dollar revenue, the organization operates at a large scale across retail, e-commerce, and supply chain domains. The company emphasizes innovation, digital transformation, and customer-centric strategies to enhance brand value and consumer engagement. Catalyst Brands is expanding its global presence, including a growing capability centre in India that supports technology, digital operations, and analytics. It aims to drive operational excellence and business growth by integrating technology, data-driven insights, and efficient retail practices.

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 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.

Pay Range

INR ₹0.00 - INR ₹0.00 /Yr.