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We've made many foundational investments over the last couple of years and will continue to do so this year so that if she's shopping from home, her cart stays with her across any channel. Kohl's CIO Janet Schalk: "We also offer our omni-channel wallet, our mobile wallet, which makes shopping at the store much easier. The customer does not have to fumble for all the pieces of paper - Do I have Kohl's cash? Do I have a reward? Do I have a 30% off? Customers can simply store these things in their phone wallet."

Retail IT is being transformed. CIOs are shifting from proprietary systems to package solutions and from an emphasis on cost reduction to a solid bump in IT capital spending. A strong customer focus means CIOs are fixing their attention on channel integration and analytics that will help them spot and anticipate shopper preferences more quickly. "Talking about re-engineering the foundation of retail IT may not be the sexy side of technology, but it's critical," Webster says. "If a company jumps into mobile-assisted in-store selling ... but doesn't have accurate visibility of inventory across the enterprise, what have they accomplished?" That's a point of view echoed by Gartner vice president of research Jeff Roster. "The big attack has to be on infrastructure," he says. "There are still a whole lot of retail companies out there that need to retire legacy systems and get out of the proprietary code writing business. Once they move to packaged systems, the opportunity to decrease infrastructure costs and reshape the business around today's customer can move forward at a quicker pace."

When it was time to upgrade its e-commerce platform, Work 'N Gear wanted a solution that would have lasting impact. CEO Anthony DiPaolo talked to Oracle about his company, their vision and why they chose Oracle to support their e-commerce growth.

When it was time to upgrade its e-commerce platform, Work 'N Gear wanted a solution that would have lasting impact. CEO Anthony DiPaolo talked to Oracle about his company, their vision and why they chose Oracle to support their e-commerce growth.

The timing of this particular release couldn't be more appropriate though, if you remember earlier this week Oracle talked us through its thoughts on customer experience management at the Experience Revolution event in New York...

The July 12 issue of eCampus News includes an article discussing recent changes in colleges students' financial aid packages caused by Congress's sequestration talks. The article includes comment from Oracle customer, Marquette University in which Tara O'Neill, Associate Director of the Office of Finance and Student Financial Aid noted that if this would have happened in the mid-2000s, schools would not be able to make the proper adjustments needed. However, with technological advancements in its financial aid office, Marquette was able to notify students of possible aid changes within 30 minutes of getting word from the federal government. The article notes that Marquette uses PeopleSoft Campus Solutions Student Financing system which provides constant updates to federal rules and regulations surrounding financial aid.

Oracle Retail's Dave Dorf talks with Harvard Business Review readers about using Facebook to connect with customers, at HBR blog The Conversation

(Scroll to article just below ULTA feature:) Attendees at the annual Oracle event were treated to a number of presentations by retail executives, from companies including: Nordstrom, The Gap, John Lewis, adidas, Academy Sports, Chico's, Lilly Pulitzer and more. Recurring themes for sessions centered around omnichannel strategies and improving the customer experience with comprehensive technology solutions. During keynote sessions, Oracle executives talked about the importance of delivering Commerce Anywhere capabilities to retailers. Mike Webster, SVP and GM, Oracle Retail, noted: "You don't have a big data problem, you have a small insight problem…Big Science is the answer." Jill Puleri, Oracle's new SVP and GM, Global Retail Business Unit, discussed ways retailers are using mobile differently to address five elements of disruption: mobility, data breaches, same-day delivery, wearables and weather.

On their recent earnings (second quarter) call with analysts, Coldwater Creek CEO Jill Brown Dean and CFO/COO James Bell talked technology, specifically discussing the results of the company's implementation of the new Oracle-based inventory planning system.

It was telling from the first big keynote, that Oracle remains serious about retail. Walgreens, P&G and Dunnhumby were all on stage talking about their use of big data and the cloud in retail.

It was telling from the first big keynote, that Oracle remains serious about retail. Walgreens, P&G and Dunnhumby were all on stage talking about their use of big data and the cloud in retail.

Mobile POS is becoming increasingly more popular among both consumers and retailers as it speeds and simplifies checkout, eliminates lines, reduces costs and helps keep personnel out in the store, talking with customers

More than half (56 percent) of consumers worldwide will have the opportunity anywhere and at any time of the day to shop. Also says 61 percent of these consumers that it is important that online stores are easily accessible. These percentages come from the study Evolution of Retailing Experience of Oracle software. In physical stores is 56 percent a pleasant and inspiring environment is important and 62 percent want to see and test products. Nearly ninety percent are very service until quite important while shopping.

Anton Pershin, Regional Sales Director, Oracle Retail in Eastern Europe and the CIS, talks about what a Russian buyer, how is it different from customers of other countries, and how far information technology came into his life.

Results of an Oracle Utilities survey released this morning show that electric utilities in Canada and the US are only in the early stages of putting smart meter data good use. But they could be doing a better job of using the data they are collecting. The survey was of 151 utility executives in Canada and the United States. The study, Utility Transformations - Big Data, Bigger Opportunities: Plans and Preparedness for the Data Deluge, shows that utilities on both sides of the 49th Parallel are collecting significantly more interval data from smart meters. The frequency at which they are gathering smart meter data is 180 times more than in the past - every four hours compared to once a month. And the vast majority of them are collecting information such as outage and voltage data. Linda Jackman, group VP of industry strategy for Oracle Utilities, tells Canadian Green Tech in an interview that despite the improvement on the data collection front, utilities aren't using the data as effective as they could be. She was surprised to find utilities collecting certain types of data, but then not using that data to inform business decisions. According to the results, 78% of utilities surveyed are collecting outage data with 59% of them using, meaning nearly 20% aren't correlating outage data with customer communications as an example. For voltage data, the levels are 73% and 57%, respectively. "In outage and voltage data, the fact that everybody is not collecting that data, I think is surprising. You've rolled out a smart meter and you're not collecting outage data when it has the ability to talk to you around outage data? Why am I not collecting it? But then only 60% of them are using it once they have collected it, I think is also surprising," says Jackman. "So what we're seeing is that utilities are still in this very early stage and very formative stage of collecting the data but actually don't know what [they're] going to do with

Disney Stores' Ron Johnson, speaking at the Oracle Retail Cross-Talk user conference last week in Chicago, said the new POS has created stronger in-store links to Disney's e-commerce offerings, reduced losses due to mispricing and lowered IT costs with a more centralized operational structure. In addition to traffic and sales increases, benefits include higher guest conversion rates and improved margins.

Saks is working hard to cater to shoppers who are buying both in the stores and online. During a conference call with investors, Saks CEO Steve Sadove talked about how important it is to merge its physical stores with its online business. The company is investing in an ambitious multi-year project with Oracle called "Project Evolution" that will help create a more seamless operation. By 2013, it expects to fulfill online orders from its Saks Fifth Avenue stores.