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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.

Saks, Inc. is evolving to embrace omni-channel retailing through a series of infrastructure and systems enhancements slated to take place over the next several years. This is a transitional time for the company and these investments will position Saks for the future, allowing it to deliver incremental sales and improve operating margins over time.  To support its omni-channel and IT initiatives, Saks will invest one-third of its $120 million CapEx on Project Evolution, a multi-year transformation of and investment in systems technology with Oracle. Project Evolution will deliver new merchandising, finance and human resources systems and capabilities on an integrated application suite for the entire business.

Meanwhile, Saks is working with Oracle in an ambitious project called Project Evolution that will deliver new computer systems including merchandising and finance. That will help Saks meld its online business with its physical stores. For example, by fall 2013, the company plans to be able to fulfill online orders from its Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

"We've made enormous progress in our 'Project Evolution'," Saks CEO Stephen Sadove told investors in a presentation for the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Retail & Consumer Conference

The retailer is working with software giant Oracle on what Mr. Sadove called "a substantial multiyear transformation of an investment in systems and technology." Project Evolution will deliver new merchandising, finance and human resources systems and capabilities and … supply us with the modern technology platform to support omnichannel for the future," Mr. Sadove said on a conference call

Other retailers that use one or more of Oracle systems include Nordstrom, Saks, Belk, Disney Stores, Lululemon and Sephora

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

At the Oracle Retail CrossTalk conference in June, key retail executives gathered in downtown Chicago seemed to agree on one thing: omnichannel gets all the buzz these days, and e-commerce is hot, hot, hot - but the brick-and-mortar store remains as important as ever.