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The customer experience is fueling IT spending like never before. That was my main takeaway from Oracle Retail CrossTalk 2012...

One in four consumers will start their holiday shopping this week, according to a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers conducted this fall by Oracle.

Cross-channel shopping is the new norm: Fifty-four percent of consumers regularly employ two or more channels before they make a purchase, according to a new study by Oracle

Attendees at the 2012 National Retail Federation convention in  New York who donate $20 to The Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI) will take home a Build-A-Bear Teddy Bear. In an initiative designed to raise funds for charities sponsored by RetailROI, Oracle is providing 2,000 Build-A-Bear Teddy Bears dressed in a custom RetailROI t-shirt at its booth on the exhibit floor (booth #1319).

"We will use Oracle Retail to better serve the changing needs of our convenience customers by offering the best assortment by store and fresher products every day. Also to establish best practices and create a platform for growth," said Eduardo Trujillo, business transformation director, 7-Eleven Mexico.

Improving the cross-channel customer experience and optimizing the supply chain ranked as retailers' biggest challenges in a new study by Oracle. The report also found that mobile access is key: Forty percent of retailers said that providing store associates with mobile access to customer, product, inventory and other information is critical to their business, along with providing the entire organization with a more consistent and complete view of the customer (40%)

"A critical step on this journey is providing our team with better access to the information they need to make strategic business decisions, drive performance and exceed customer expectations"

Cross-channel experiences are vital to customer experience. Recent customer experience studies of retail executives - by Oracle Corp. and Tata Consultancy Services - show that to 50% and 47% of respondents, respectively, cross-channel experiences are vital to providing overall customer experience.

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.

Stein Mart has reaped significant holiday-related benefits as a result of its SMART transformation, which placed Oracle at the core of merchandising, returns management and POS systems and also laid the foundation for its new e-commerce offering

By moving its ecommerce operations to Oracle Commerce, online health supplements retailer PureFormulas will take advantage of Oracle's multi-site architecture to support expansion, while significantly enhancing its customer experience and personalization capabilities

"Toms is rapidly evolving and growing their digital presence globally and the Oracle Commerce solution helps provide Toms with the ability to offer leading commerce capabilities on a global, flexible, scalable platform," said Belinda McConnell, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Kohl's has been increasingly focused on omnichannel retailing in the past year, beyond introducing initial buy online pickup in store functionality in May. Earlier this month, Kohl's announced a slew of special omnichannel holiday shopping features. Kohl's also was among the first retailers to offer an Apple Watch app in April. In January, the retailer unveiled its "Greatness Agenda," a broad effort to maximize omnichannel customer engagement that is based on an Oracle Retail platform.

Footwear manufacturer and retailer Skechers U.S.A. said Tuesday it has upgraded and expanded its Oracle Applications investment, implemented Oracle Database and moved to Oracle On Demand to support rapid growth across its retail and wholesale channels.

The supermarket operator will use the solution to integrate and streamline all aspects of product development, including managing specifications, suppliers, formulations, packaging and labeling, compliance, and quality

CIO Kovac: "Our investment in the area of merchandise planning and allocation is an important piece of enhancing our IT infrastructure to drive business advantage."

"We are enabling next generation best practices that will center on optimizing the customer experience at both the store and ecommerce level," said Mike Laurenti, CIO and executive VP, Belk.

29% of respondents have made at least one purchase on their mobile phone, more than double the number in ATG's 2009 survey

"Our brands are committed to delivering an interactive, exciting and efficient shopping experience to all our customers around the world, no matter which channel they choose to use to visit us, from flagship stores to mobile devices," said Sir Philip Green, owner of Arcadia Group. "Global expansion is a key strategic focus for Arcadia, and to do this successfully, we need to make sure the best merchandise assortment is available in each store and channel. We expect Oracle to help us enhance our merchandising strategies to help ensure that we deliver the best possible customer promise every time."

"Our brands are committed to delivering an interactive, exciting and efficient shopping experience to all our customers around the world, no matter which channel they choose to use to visit us, from flagship stores to mobile devices," said Sir Philip Green, owner of Arcadia Group. "Global expansion is a key strategic focus for Arcadia, and to do this successfully, we need to make sure the best merchandise assortment is available in each store and channel. We expect Oracle to help us enhance our merchandising strategies to help ensure that we deliver the best possible customer promise every time."