Hibbett focuses on customers with cloud-based store experience

Hibbett Retail, parent company of Hibbett Sports and City Gear, is upgrading and expanding its store-level customer engagement and operations management

The athletic-inspired apparel retailer is implementing the latest Oracle retail cloud platform technology. The deployment includes upgrading an existing install of the mobile Oracle Retail Xstore POS solution; as well as rollouts of Oracle Retail Store Inventory Operations Cloud Service, Oracle Retail Customer Engagement Cloud Service, Oracle Retail Order Broker, and Oracle Retail Assortment Planning Cloud.

As a result, Hibbett intends to provide store associates with a constantly accurate view of available merchandise across channels and the ability to serve customers from anywhere in the store. This includes enabling associates to view a customer's past purchases to recommend new styles.

In addition, store-level employees will have the flexibility to ship merchandise to an adjacent store or a customer's home if the product they seek is out of stock. And the new cloud-based assortment planning will help the retailer place the right assortment of footwear, apparel, and accessories in the right stores to best meet customer demand.

"Hibbett is where fashion intersects with sport, and the elite sneaker culture thrives. So, as a company, we focus on enhancing the customer experience from 'toe-to-head’ by delivering great service with every interaction," said Tim Boggess, VP of strategy, innovation and store technology for Hibbett Retail. "Our customers embrace our award-winning loyalty program and expect an experience tailored to their interests and preferences. With Oracle, we can deliver this level of personalization at scale."

"By continuing to partner with Oracle, we can tap into the continuous delivery model of the cloud and reduce our investments in data centers," said Ron Blahnik, senior VP and CIO for Hibbett Retail. "The additional IT capacity allows us to focus more energy on supporting our business needs as we extend our market reach and customer expectations continue to grow and evolve." 

"Customers increasingly want a more connected, personalized experience that can't be delivered with piecemeal technology," said Mike Webster, senior VP and GM of Oracle Retail. "With our platform, we are connecting not only systems but data, so retailers like Hibbett have the intelligence they need to deliver an endless aisle experience that keeps customers happy and continuously moving merchandise to bolster the bottom line."

Hibbett Retail, headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., is an athletic-inspired apparel retailer with 1,133 Hibbett and City Gear specialty stores located in 36 states nationwide.

[Read more: Retailers see clear benefits from cloud integration]