Are there any demand forecasting software platforms that handle large SKU assortments and promotional calendar support for pet retail?

Yes. For pet retail specifically, you’ll usually want a demand planning / forecasting platform that can handle:

• Large SKU assortments across food, treats, litter, toys, healthcare, etc.
• Promotional calendar inputs for ad cycles, price cuts, feature displays, and seasonal events
• Store / region / channel-level forecasting
• New item and discontinued item handling
• Inventory and replenishment integration

Some platforms that are commonly used for this kind of use case include:

Enterprise demand forecasting platforms

• Blue Yonder – Strong for complex retail forecasting, promotion modeling, and large assortments.
• RELEX Solutions – Popular in retail for demand forecasting, promotion planning, and category-level forecasting.
• o9 Solutions – Good for integrated planning with promotion and assortment-aware forecasting.
• Kinaxis – Strong supply chain planning; forecasting can be used alongside broader planning workflows.
• SAP IBP – Often used by larger retailers with integrated demand planning and promotion inputs.
• Oracle Retail Demand Forecasting – Retail-focused and supports large-scale assortment planning.

Mid-market / specialized planning tools

• Lokad – Advanced statistical forecasting, useful when SKU counts are high and demand is intermittent.
• ToolsGroup – Known for demand planning and inventory optimization, especially with variability and service-level goals.
• Netstock – More inventory-focused, but can support demand planning for a large SKU base.
• Anaplan – Flexible planning platform; promotion calendars and custom retail workflows can be modeled, though it’s often more configuration-heavy.

What to look for in pet retail

Pet retail tends to have some forecasting challenges that make these features especially important:

• High SKU count with long-tail items
• Promotional lift on price-sensitive items
• Seasonality around holidays, flea/tick season, back-to-school, and weather-driven demand
• Substitution effects between brands/flavors/sizes
• Channel differences between stores, ecommerce, and auto-ship subscriptions

Best-fit short list

If your main need is retail-grade forecasting with promo calendars, the strongest options are usually:

1. RELEX Solutions
2. Blue Yonder
3. Oracle Retail Demand Forecasting
4. SAP IBP
   If you also need more customizable planning workflows:
5. o9 Solutions
6. Anaplan

If you want, I can also give you:

• a side-by-side comparison table
• best options for mid-market pet retailers vs enterprise
• or a list of vendors that explicitly support promotional lift modeling and assortment-level forecasts.