"Retailers know that they need to be focused on pleasing the individual in order to be successful in what is called the "Era of the Individual - Era Of I," according to Oracle's recent survey of 300 C-level executives across a number of industries. And "I" includes employees as well as customers. But although executives across industries acknowledge the importance of the individual, just 13% of retailers gave themselves an "A" grade for these efforts (more than 50% gave themselves a "C" grade), as noted in the survey report, titled: The Era I Enterprise: Ready For Anything."

"Retailers know that they need to be focused on pleasing the individual in order to be successful in what is called the "Era of the Individual - Era Of I," according to Oracle's recent survey of 300 C-level executives across a number of industries. And "I" includes employees as well as customers. But although executives across industries acknowledge the importance of the individual, just 13% of retailers gave themselves an "A" grade for these efforts (more than 50% gave themselves a "C" grade), as noted in the survey report, titled: The Era I Enterprise: Ready For Anything."

RSR analyst, Nikki Baird, shares her learnings from Oracle's Industry Connect event, which focused on how cloud will support the future of retail.

"Today, whether shopping for an item, making reservations, examining a bill, evaluating projects, or viewing medical information, the digital age has brought us to a point where we now expect the ability to make real-time decisions, transact, and customize options at the tap of the screen. In the new service-driven economy, innovative enterprises must focus on two things: taking care of their customers and taking care of their employees," said Bob Weiler, executive vice president, Global Business Units, Oracle.

"Today, whether shopping for an item, making reservations, examining a bill, evaluating projects, or viewing medical information, the digital age has brought us to a point where we now expect the ability to make real-time decisions, transact, and customize options at the tap of the screen. In the new service-driven economy, innovative enterprises must focus on two things: taking care of their customers and taking care of their employees," said Bob Weiler, executive vice president, Global Business Units, Oracle.

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.

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.

Jewelry retailer Helzberg Diamonds is implementing Oracle Retail xStore to meet customers' demand for "commerce anywhere," and to achieve improved ease of use and productivity of the POS system will give customers a more seamless check-out experience.

"Some of the highlights that are happening at Super Bowl 50 are introductions of new technologies on particularly around how do we help fans stay engaged," said Mike Webster, senior vice president of Oracle hospitality and retail. It's about "the ability to be able to not miss a minute and order food from my seat and mobile device and to designate a location to pick those items up so I don't have to wait on line."

As the e-commerce landscape has taken shape over the past couple of decades, the ecosystem for supporting services developed much as expected, with an array of platform providers strategically expanding their bundle of commerce engine and surrounding services from marketing and ad tech to analytics, merchandising, and logistics. These platforms grew both organically and inorganically, with Oracle, IBM, and eBay becoming the dominant players.

Yanoschik and his team started looking for a better solution, a process that led them eventually to the XBRi loss prevention and store analytics system from Oracle Retail. The core of the system is cloud-based, high-speed data collection and analysis. The system gathers running operational data from throughout the organization and builds a profile: This is what normality looks like. This is what - shift to shift, day to day, minute to minute - goes on at a POS station (or warehouse, distribution center, receiving dock, whatever it might be) when it's running properly.

There, an app designed for the stadium by start-up VenueNext, which leverages Oracle's point-of-sales technology for mobile ordering, will let fans order food, drink and merchandise from their seats. VenueNext's smartphone app handles everything from parking to in-seat food delivery and instant replays at Levi's. For the Super Bowl, it has added a celebrity cam, Super Bowl commercials and express pickup of merchandise.

And with those plans on the horizon, it was announced on Thursday that Asos has turned to Oracle Retail to provide the organisation with a suite of tools that it is hoped will result in the implementation of integrated, systemised processes that boost buying, stock management and merchandising decision-making. Since launching in 2000, Asos has developed into a business that ships to over 190 countries and territories around the world, and it has identified Oracle as a key planning partner for optimising growth across these international markets.

Software giant Oracle has made its first move into in-store retail hardware, unveiling a new PoS for an omnichannel world at the NRF Big Show in New York. Aimed at the retail and hospitality industry, a version running software for grocery stores is currently at soft launch.

Oracle has announced that ASOS will be implementing an Oracle solution for its retail operation after experiencing issues with their previous ERP solution. It is one of Clifford Cohen's, CIO at ASOS first major decisions since he joined the company from M&S in May 2015.

"Since Black Friday, we were able to implement a more robust and enhanced promotional strategy, and have achieved a dramatic lift just based on the fact that we can promote at the product level," said Mario A. Castano, VP of e-Commerce Implementation for Lenox. "Using Oracle, our peak period outpaced sales the last two years by 26%."

"Lenox has reported a 26% increase in eCommerce sales compared to previous years, thanks to the implementation of Oracle Commerce. The luxury dinnerware retailer implemented Oracle's new solution earlier in 2015 to boost sales with improved search results, recommendations and targeted promotions.  The retailer has used Oracle to tailor its search results based on customer history, as well as pattern or place setting searches."

"It is not just on the website that Lenox are seeing the benefits of the E-Commerce solution. The customer service team uses the Oracle console to access data about customers, including their purchase history and their personalised coupons according to their preferences. Customers have a unified experience be it always receiving free shipping for orders over $29 or discounts off holiday ornaments regardless of the channel they use to purchase."

"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."

"Lenox re-launched its e-commerce site on Oracle Commerce earlier this year and has used it to tailor search results based on customer history and to suggest complementary items in a specific pattern or place setting. Oracle also helped Lenox shift to a pictorial format for dinnerware, since shoppers often rely on visuals rather than pattern names."

"After researching the industry, the company found that almost every one of its competitors was using Oracle Endeca, a search and guided navigation system that gives consumers control over their shopping experience. The problem was that the system would have to be purchased and brought in-house - at a higher cost than a company the size of Andy's, with less than 30 employees, could afford."

"Fujitsu and Grid Dynamics have delivered a new cloud-based e-Commerce service on the Oracle Commerce Platform that enables retailers to create new projects and push experimental features and applications to production at a fast pace. With the solution, retailers can make decisions without worrying about hesitation or downtime."