Oracle

Redwood Shores, Calif. – Cross-channel experiences are vital to customer experience. Recent customer experience studies of retail executives — by Oracle Corp. and Tata Consultancy Services — show that to 50% and 47% of respondents, respectively, cross-channel experiences are vital to providing overall customer experience.

New York -- On their recent earnings (second quarter) call with analysts, Coldwater Creek CEO Jill Brown Dean and CFO/COO James Bell talked technology, specifically discussing the results of the company’s implementation of the new Oracle-based inventory planning system.

The implementation was competed in March 2013, Bell noted. He added that while the company had, in recent years, developed many inventory management disciplines, it was lacking adequate tools to fully maximize its inventory investment.       

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Oracle Corp. is launching version 13.3 of its Retail Allocation solution that is designed to deliver real-time inventory levels along with sales and planning information for better assortment planning. Oracle Retail Allocation 13.3 uses embedded business intelligence and multiple data sources to support role-based dashboards that give recommendations based on the entire lifecycle of a product.

Roundarch Isobar, the U.S. arm of the global digital marketing agency Isobar, has appointed Steven Moy as the company’s chief commerce officer. He joins from SapientNitro, where he was VP of business and office lead at that company’s Boston office.  

Roundarch Isobar will leverage Moy’s experience in retail to further develop the company’s digital commerce practice. He will report directly to Jeff Maling and Geoff Cubitt, co-CEOs of Roundarch Isobar.

DENVER — Junction Solutions, a leading provider of hosted and cloud-based software and services for the multichannel retail and food and beverage sectors, has appointed John Bonati as SVP of sales. 

Bonati will manage the global sales activities for the company’s industry-specific software and service solutions. 

Chicago - Belk, the nation's largest family owned and operated department store company, was honored as Innovator of the Year at the 2013 Oracle Retail Excellence Awards. The award recipients were announced at Oracle’s annual Oracle Retail CrossTalk customer event, held June 25 to 27 in Chicago.

Other Oracle award winners included the British department store company John Lewis plc for Outstanding Customer Experience, and Deckers Outdoor, the footwear company,  for Outstanding Business Performance.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Coldwater Creek has deployed Oracle Retail’s suite of integrated merchandise planning and optimization solutions as part of a strategic initiative to increase full-price selling and improve the productivity and profitability of store, online and catalog channels. The women’s apparel retailer is using the new planning solutions to reduce aged inventory and ensure that popular items are consistently in stock.

Plano, Texas -- Another executive hired by former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson has apparently left the chain. Kristen Blum, executive VP and chief technology officer, is no longer with Penney, according to various reports that cited a note to investors by Citi analyst Deborah Weinswig. Penney has yet to officially announce her departure, which was also reported by Women’s Wear Daily.