Omnichannel

New York -- Sports retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors has implemented Oracle Retail solutions to support growth by streamlining merchandising and inventory operations.

The 185-store chain has targeted sales growth in-store and online and, according to Oracle, as retailers manage an increasingly more complex array of customer segments and channels, success hinges on simplifying and optimizing mission-critical operations such as pricing, inventory management and allocation.

Retailers loking to take retail innovation to the next level may want to look at GameStop and its new omnichannel partnership with Microsoft.

The video game retailer announced Monday at NRF’s Big Show that it will use Microsoft's Azure cloud-powered network "enhance the in-store engagement of its customers in interactive, informative, and entertaining ways."

GameStop will be one of the first retailers to use Azure to stream video game and promotional content direct to customer and store associate mobile devices.

San Mateo, Calif. -- NetSuite Inc. announced that two fashion and apparel retailers — Journelle, a seller of high-end lingerie and loungewear, and Alton Lane, a maker of men’s custom-tailored clothing — have deployed NetSuite to run their core retail business processes from order management, inventory management, financials, supplier purchasing and customer relationship management (CRM) to marketing — all from within one unified cloud-based business management platform.

Boston -- Survey results released by Boston Retail Partners found that the top IT priority for retailers in 2015 is focused on improving payment security, and protecting the confidentiality of sensitive information.

For the first time in 16 years, more than 63% of the retail respondents in the BRP 2015 POS/Customer Engagement Benchmarking Survey indicated that payment security is among their top priorities for 2015.
 

The retail landscape is changing more rapidly now than at any point in history. As technology and customer demands evolve, retailers and their supply chains must be increasingly flexible and adaptable.

Let’s take a look at the top 5 trends for the retail supply chain in 2015.

1. This year will be omnichannel’s time to shine.

San Luis Obispo, Calif. - Shopatron is partnering with Mozu and Brand Labs in an effort to give retailers increased website scalability through SaaS technology, quick site ramp-up and deployment, and a lower cost of ownership. The partnership is designed to allow retailers to launch a responsive e-commerce channel built for enterprise growth, increase their speed to market with higher conversion rates, and fulfill customer orders new options for delivery.

Growth decelerated at Bed Bath & Beyond during the third quarter but the $1.3 billion the company spent buying back stock enabled it to achieve analysts’ earnings estimates.

Another January, another NRF “Big Show” in New York. The annual meeting officially kicks off on Sunday. Here’s my early take on what to expect from exhibitors at the show:

1. More Cooperation With Retailers