Oracle Media Resource

Technology is an essential ingredient to the success of John Lewis, and the retailer is ploughing £100m into IT initiatives in 2015

We've made many foundational investments over the last couple of years and will continue to do so this year so that if she's shopping from home, her cart stays with her across any channel. Kohl's CIO Janet Schalk: "We also offer our omni-channel wallet, our mobile wallet, which makes shopping at the store much easier. The customer does not have to fumble for all the pieces of paper - Do I have Kohl's cash? Do I have a reward? Do I have a 30% off? Customers can simply store these things in their phone wallet."

In this exclusive interview, Janet Schalk, EVP and CIO of Kohl's, shares insights into the retailer's latest technology implementations related to an overall omnichannel focus.

"The customer is in the driver's seat. We're just trying to get in front of what she wants." - Karen Katz, president and chief executive officer of Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. LLC, speaking about technology at the Oracle Industry Connect Conference.

In spite of a credit card breach a few months back, execs with Neiman Marcus are pleased at the pace with which the company is growing, especially in the online arena. In a keynote address last week at the two-day Oracle Industry Connect conference in Boston, Karen Katz, president and chief executive officer of Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. LLC, said the $5 billion retailer is in the midst of its largest-ever capital project, overhauling its merchandising system using Oracle. "It is big, scary and risky, and the only path we could have taken," said Katz. In addition, the company is making more tech enhancements to its 41 stores, including working further on its new app, which allows sales associates to chat with customers, send them product collages and make merchandise suggestions.

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 October 2015 EMV deadline is looming. How can retailers who haven't prepared get up to speed, and realize benefits in the process?