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British multinational retailing company Arcadia Group has selected Oracle retail platform to optimize retail operations and support its developing international business. The fashion retailer will use Oracle Retail Merchandising Operations Management, Oracle Retail Merchandise Planning and Optimization, and Oracle Commerce applications to meet customer demand in its 2,507stores and 600 international franchised outlets across 36 countries.

British multinational retailing company Arcadia Group has selected Oracle retail platform to optimize retail operations and support its developing international business. The fashion retailer will use Oracle Retail Merchandising Operations Management, Oracle Retail Merchandise Planning and Optimization, and Oracle Commerce applications to meet customer demand in its 2,507stores and 600 international franchised outlets across 36 countries.

Vendor eyes multi-channel as it builds cloud portfolio. Oracle is hitting retailers with a flood of enterprise software as it seeks to establish itself as a key cloud player in the market. The software vendor will launch six products covering critical ecommerce, customer engagement, order management, order fulfilment, loss prevention, and brand compliance. Jill Puleri, SVP and GM at Oracle Retail, said: "Retailers looking for agility, performance, and cost predictability are increasingly considering the cloud. "The new Oracle Retail Cloud Services help eliminate the time and cost constraints that too often hamper retailers' ability to respond to new opportunities for growth." Many of the products are dedicated to enabling multi-channel operations, a focus for retailers seeking to integrate their online and offline business amid rising customer expectations.

Vendor eyes multi-channel as it builds cloud portfolio. Oracle is hitting retailers with a flood of enterprise software as it seeks to establish itself as a key cloud player in the market. The software vendor will launch six products covering critical ecommerce, customer engagement, order management, order fulfilment, loss prevention, and brand compliance. Jill Puleri, SVP and GM at Oracle Retail, said: "Retailers looking for agility, performance, and cost predictability are increasingly considering the cloud. "The new Oracle Retail Cloud Services help eliminate the time and cost constraints that too often hamper retailers' ability to respond to new opportunities for growth." Many of the products are dedicated to enabling multi-channel operations, a focus for retailers seeking to integrate their online and offline business amid rising customer expectations.

We spoke to various industry experts who revealed their top predictions for the future of retail including Oracle, IBM, Retail Wire ... ...David Dorf / Oracle: Retail will change in many ways, but immediacy will have the biggest impact. Our homes will replenish themselves; our packages will arrive hours after the order; retailers will bid on the right to sell us products in real time; our in-home printers will produce products as we watch. These are examples of consumers having immediate access to the products they want. The technologies to support these scenarios already exist, so we're not waiting on anything new to be invented. All of these scenarios are already a reality in small, independent deployments. It's only a matter of time before retailers evolve their business models to fully embrace this notion of immediacy. That's not to say traditional channels will cease to exist. Physical and digital retail won't fade away, nor will the importance of good customer service. But massive improvements achieved in forecasting, sourcing, and moving products will radically change the landscape in which we trade. Obviously no one will wake up tomorrow to this new reality. It will emerge slowly over many years, but we can already see evidence of the coming changes. Every retailer needs to think in these terms, and make sure each investment moves them closer to the goal.

"The New Retail Democracy study finds that the increasingly democratic relationship between digitally-empowered shoppers and retailers is forcing retailers to re-evaluate technology investments and strategic initiatives to capture loyalty, drive spend and remain competitive.  Consumers are demanding better access to information, product and process, along with more individualized interactions with retailers as they take ownership of their retail experiences."

"The New Retail Democracy study finds that the increasingly democratic relationship between digitally-empowered shoppers and retailers is forcing retailers to re-evaluate technology investments and strategic initiatives to capture loyalty, drive spend and remain competitive.  Consumers are demanding better access to information, product and process, along with more individualized interactions with retailers as they take ownership of their retail experiences."

Oracle unveils new Retail Cloud Services solutions The new solutions are designed to drive retail growth through cloud technology. Oracle has unveiled six new Retail Cloud Services designed to help retailers capitalize on modern business opportunities. Announced on Wednesday, the Redwood City, CA.-based firm said six new cloud solutions have been added to the company's retail cloud portfolio. Stemming from MICROS Retail solutions, acquired by Oracle last year, the new cloud services are designed to assist retailers in the management of e-commerce applications, customer engagement, the stock chain, ordering and brand compliance.

"As consumers continue to dictate how, when and where they make purchases, Oracle believes that providing commerce anywhere is imperative for retail success." said Mike Webster, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Oracle Retail. "Retailers need to invest in aligning and integrating retail processes with the needs of individual consumers to compete and grow effectively in the New Retail Democracy."

"As consumers continue to dictate how, when and where they make purchases, Oracle believes that providing commerce anywhere is imperative for retail success." said Mike Webster, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Oracle Retail. "Retailers need to invest in aligning and integrating retail processes with the needs of individual consumers to compete and grow effectively in the New Retail Democracy."

"Retailers looking for agility, performance, and cost predictability are increasingly considering the cloud," said Jill Puleri, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Retail. "The new Oracle Retail Cloud Services help eliminate the time and cost constraints that too often hamper retailers' ability to respond to new opportunities for growth. Just as important, Oracle Retail Cloud Services allow retailers to focus on their business and work on strategic projects that add value to the business."

PureFormulas.com spent an estimated 1,000 hours, or more than 40 full days, meeting with or investigating all the major e-commerce platform vendors-including Demandware Inc., hybris AG, Magento-before buying from Oracle Corp. The retailer signed a contract with Oracle in May 2013, downloading Oracle Commerce software on its own servers. The implementation required in-house design work and coding in advance of the full launch in August of the retailer's new platform-which has also been deployed by larger retailers, including, last year, Kohl's Corp., a retail chain that took in $1.76 billion in web sales in 2013, according to Top500Guide.com.

PureFormulas.com spent an estimated 1,000 hours, or more than 40 full days, meeting with or investigating all the major e-commerce platform vendors-including Demandware Inc., hybris AG, Magento-before buying from Oracle Corp. The retailer signed a contract with Oracle in May 2013, downloading Oracle Commerce software on its own servers. The implementation required in-house design work and coding in advance of the full launch in August of the retailer's new platform-which has also been deployed by larger retailers, including, last year, Kohl's Corp., a retail chain that took in $1.76 billion in web sales in 2013, according to Top500Guide.com.

PureFormulas.com spent an estimated 1,000 hours, or more than 40 full days, meeting with or investigating all the major e-commerce platform vendors-including Demandware Inc., hybris AG, Magento-before buying from Oracle Corp. The retailer signed a contract with Oracle in May 2013, downloading Oracle Commerce software on its own servers. The implementation required in-house design work and coding in advance of the full launch in August of the retailer's new platform-which has also been deployed by larger retailers, including, last year, Kohl's Corp., a retail chain that took in $1.76 billion in web sales in 2013, according to Top500Guide.com.

Hot Applications For SaaS In Retail Dorf agrees that the agility of data access and analysis afforded by the cloud is fueling its adoption. Leveraging SaaS-based analytics tools, he says, allows retail tech shops to move away from mundane IT tasks and refocus their efforts on real retail work. "SaaS lightens the load on IT by removing the burdens associated with backups, audits, upgrades, and security management. Business insight afforded by SaaS-based analytics tools affords retailers a really good understanding of the data they already have," says Dorf. "As we add more analytics capabilities via the cloud, we can grant that access more quickly via automatic upgrades, which dramatically reduces the retailer's time to value." Because these tools are offered in a pay-only- for-what-you-use style fashioned after the utilities model, retailers can strategically and incrementally build on their data analytics initiatives at their own pace. "Retailers have been sitting on a lot of Big Data for a long time. SaaS-based analytics applies 'Big Science' to that Big Data, allowing merchants to finally extract value from it," says Dorf.

Oracle is focusing squarely on retail agility with the latest additions to its comprehensive set of retail cloud solutions. ..."Retailers can react to the market a lot faster," said David Dorf, senior director of product strategy at Oracle Retail, during a phone briefing with Chain Store Age. "Retailers do not have to focus on mundane IT tasks, but the retail business itself. They can also obtain access to more features and functions faster, with automatic upgrades in the cloud."

New research from Oracle reveals that an increasingly democratic relationship is emerging between digitally-empowered consumers and retailers, forcing retailers to re-evaluate technology investments and strategic initiatives to capture loyalty, drive spend and remain competitive. The New Retail Democracy, a study issued this week by Oracle, finds that consumers are demanding better access to information, product and process, along with more individualized interactions with retailers as they take ownership of their retail experiences. This requires retailers to prioritize the provision of a commerce anywhere business model to be relevant and competitive in today's complex global marketplace.

Retailer's implementation establishes foundation for sustainable growth across Nordstrom full line and Rack stores in North America Redwood Shores, Calif.-Apr 6, 2015 Leading fashion specialty retailer Nordstrom has implemented new Oracle Retail Merchandise Operations Management and Oracle Retail Store Inventory Management solutions to support its expansion in Canada. The retailer plans to roll out the latest releases of these Oracle Retail solutions companywide to support its Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores. "Oracle is a valued partner to our business," said Bill Tucker, vice president 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."

...To create more compelling marketing campaigns, best-in-class retailers are focusing on collecting psychographic data that will complement demographic information, resulting in more in-depth segmentation, according to David Dorf, Senior Director of Technology Strategy for Oracle. Mobile and social media, he revealed, are two breeding grounds for this psychographic data. "Instead of just collecting information about age, gender and income, retailers today are starting to get information from social sites around interests and opinions to obtain a better picture of consumers," Dorf told Retail TouchPoints. While this more granular approach enables retailers to target consumers and refine marketing strategies to create more relevant campaigns, messaging and offers across channels, a lot of infrastructure is required to collect and manage all of this information. "Retailers need a full-time staff that creates the marketing messages and really engages people so that they'll give up that information," Dorf noted. "Then, of course, technology is required to process the structured and non-structured data and make something of those insights."

With the addition of Oracle Retail Insights and Oracle Retail Science, Oracle is now a "one-stop cloud shop"; with 17 different software-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud offerings available for large and mid-size retailers, explained David Dorf, Senior Director of Solutions Management in an exclusive interview with Retail TouchPoints. ..."The SaaS offerings are much more affordable for mid-tier retailers, in part because they are paying for what they use," Dorf noted. "We are now able to avail cloud science to smaller retailers."

Oracle Industry Connect, Washington DC- Apparel retailer and wholesaler Perry Ellis International upgraded its major retail systems to Oracle Retail Release 14 to deliver a commerce anywhere experience in which inventory is available to fulfill customer purchases from any channel. The move to this latest release will also unite Perry Ellis' US and European retail stores with a single global instance of Oracle Retail Merchandising System that serves both markets.

Enabled by technological advances, today's consumers are reaching across borders and channels for shopping experiences that provide unprecedented choice and convenience. A new consumer research report, "Retail Without Limits - A Modern Commercial Society," explores how a technology-powered "invisible hand" has transformed the retail environment and reveals lessons for retailers as they adapt to this new, nearly limitless retail marketplace.

Von Maur department stores has rolled out the Oracle Retail Merchandising System suite of applications to support same-store revenue growth, as well as expansion into new markets. With the Oracle Retail system supporting its e-commerce site and 26 stores, the retailer is able to respond more quickly to customer demand, maintain appropriate inventory levels, and increase sales by having the right products in the right location. "At Von Maur, it's about providing our customer with the best service possible, while simultaneously offering a unique mix of products," said Joy Place, vice president of merchandising for Von Maur.

Oracle has released Oracle Retail Release 14, offering new features throughout its suite of retail solutions that address customer engagements across touchpoints, and allow for more targeted assortment planning and greater inventory efficiency. The release offers new operational and planning processes that allow customers to buy, pick-up or return items in any channel and equip retailers to fulfill demand without channel constraints. The planning solution offers advanced clustering, microspace optimization, assortment and item planning, size-and-pack and clearance capabilities and uses retailers' own customer data to identify the factors driving buying patterns, allowing them to get even closer to the unique preferences of their customers.

Oracle has released Oracle Retail Release 14, offering new features throughout its suite of retail solutions that address customer engagements across touchpoints, and allow for more targeted assortment planning and greater inventory efficiency. The release offers new operational and planning processes that allow customers to buy, pick-up or return items in any channel and equip retailers to fulfill demand without channel constraints. The planning solution offers advanced clustering, microspace optimization, assortment and item planning, size-and-pack and clearance capabilities and uses retailers' own customer data to identify the factors driving buying patterns, allowing them to get even closer to the unique preferences of their customers.

Mid-market retailers face a unique combination of pressures from today's highly connected consumers. These customers seek the personalized attention and service that smaller retailers are known for, but they have also come to expect the wide product selection and expanded range of delivery options offered by the country's largest retailers. The 98-store Gordmans department store chain, celebrating its 100th year in business, faces this paradox, along with the challenge of balancing its upcoming online offerings with the brick-and-mortar stores that are still central to the business. Richard Heyman, Senior Vice President and CIO for the retailer, spoke about keys to success at the Oracle Retail Midmarket Merchandising Customer Luncheon held in conjunction with the NRF 2015 BIG Show in New York City.

"The consumer is digital, the household is 'virtual'. Smarter consumers demand smarter retailers who are looking into multi-channel customer service. Oracle is committed to helping retailers create and innovate, to strengthen relationships with new and returning customers," said Jill (Puleri) Standish, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Retail. "We will continue to deliver the solutions that make this possible for retailers of all sizes and segments."