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"Our strategy is to be the most engaging retailer in the U.S.," Janet Schalk, executive VP and CIO of Kohl's, explained during an exclusive interview with Chain Store Age at the recent NRF 2015 Annual Convention & Expo in New York. "The Greatness Agenda involves initiatives across the spectrum - some front-end and some enabling." To support advanced customer engagement, Kohl's relies on a variety of Oracle Retail solutions....

Forever 21, which now ranks as the fifth largest specialty retailer in the United States, is taking advantage of Oracle's advanced optimization technology and using Oracle Retail Merchandise Planning and Optimization solutions to help predict demand and align its assortments to meet the expectations and demands of its customers.

Mike Hazel, chief information officer, Academy Sports + Outdoors: "Oracle Retail provides us with a foundation for growth and an integration strategy."

George Franzino, consultant and program manager for ALEX AND ANI's "Project Prophet" software implementation: "This is the execution layer of delivering on that brand promise to our customers. This will greatly enhance that customer experience."

Only when executives, decision-makers, managers, and front-line associates have ready access to the information they need will retailers begin to catch up to their customers.

Today, the CIO fulfills a more strategic role, one that impacts the organization's ability to adapt to changing consumer preferences, preserve margins and serve customers.

By replacing a third-party search service with Oracle Commerce's integrated search and navigation, Ultra dramatically improved site navigation and search results. The updated site lets consumers easily browse categories and find specific products among the retailer's more than 20,000 items in cosmetics, fragrance, hair care, skincare, body and bath products, and salon styling tools.

As Kevin Thompson, director of application development for Lids Sports Group, told retail attendees of the recent Oracle Industry Connect conference, the retailer has implemented the Micros Locate inventory visibility solution to enable full inventory access at stores. "It's a customer service issue," said Thompson. "We don't want to disappoint customers." Lids uses Locate for order brokering, providing visibility of inventory to other stores and DCs both from the store as well as to customers using one of Lids' e-commerce sites. Store associates are equipped with tablets allowing them "endless aisle" inventory access, and out-of-stock items can be ordered for home shipment at the POS, either from a DC or a nearby store.

"Oracle is a valued partner to our business," said Bill Tucker, VP of technology, Nordstrom. "Oracle's retail industry solutions help to ensure that our technology investment evolves with our business to support our growth strategy and help us meet the changing expectations of our customers." Using technology in its stores and online, Nordstrom delivers a highly relevant and personalized experience that enables its customers to shop on their terms.

An overwhelming majority (70%) of consumers around the globe say that the best way retailers can add value to their shopping experience is to provide easy access to information about their products and services, both online and in stores. That's one of the key takeaways of a new consumer research study by Oracle.

Last week, Oracle hosted its second annual Oracle Industry Connect conference in Washington, D.C. This seat of world power was an appropriate setting for a two-day summit explaining how retailers can use technology to obtain better control of every aspect of their enterprises.

Adidas, which was an existing Oracle financials user, initially implemented XBR in its North American operation, where the retailer felt there would be the best commercial and functional fit. Satisfied with the comprehensive visualization XBR provided into North American loss prevention data, Adidas launched XBR in Europe in 2009, but encountered initial difficulties.

The emergence of constant customer connectivity, as well as cloud platforms that eliminate the need for centralized physical infrastructure, have radically changed retailing. The enterprise is now a distributed, virtual environment where retailers are constantly receiving, analyzing and reacting to real-time customer experience data in order to deliver an optimal omnichannel experience. Core solutions still play a vital role, but are now also configured around serving the real-time needs of the customer. Jill (Puleri) Standish, senior VP and general manager of Oracle Retail, recently spoke with Chain Store Age about how retailers can best leverage cloud-based, leading-edge technologies to thrive in this new environment.

Helzberg Diamonds knows its clientele expects quality, both in merchandise and in the service they receive. So the Kansas City-based, 230-plus-store specialty jewelry retailer is implementing Oracle Retail XStore POS software, as well as other third-party customer engagement and payment processing technology. With retail system integration services provider BTM Global handling all implementation, Helzberg will obtain point-to-point encryption, tokenization and EMV certification.

Helzberg Diamonds knows its clientele expects quality, both in merchandise and in the service they receive. So the Kansas City-based, 230-plus-store specialty jewelry retailer is implementing Oracle Retail XStore POS software, as well as other third-party customer engagement and payment processing technology. With retail system integration services provider BTM global handling all implementation, Helzberg will obtain point-to-point encryption, tokenization and EMV certification.

Retailers estimate they could earn an extra 10% in revenue - which translates into $100 million annually for a $1 billon company - by offering customers and employees a highly individualized experience.

…In 2011 the company partnered with Oracle to optimize planning and inventory. Says CEO Jim von Maur, "The Oracle solution greatly improved our average inventory turn, and it's done wonders for us. Our basic stock percentage has come down by 20 percent since we've installed it, so it's allowed us to turn those goods faster and just be more efficient."…

As part of a larger initiative to upgrade the customer experience and localize offerings in its 640 stores nationwide, The Finish Line will roll out new Oracle Retail merchandising, planning, stores and CRM solutions. The athletic-goods retailer is leveraging Oracle's cloud computing services in the process

The company will also implement Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle, E-Business Suite and Oracle Database as part of its strategy to better serve customers and streamline operations across all its brands

The report, "Consumer Views of Live Help Online 2012," found that social media users have exceptionally high expectations for online support