New Oracle suite delivers cloud, hardware

Oracle is introducing Oracle Retail 15, an enterprise retail suite that includes diverse features such as new cloud-based applications and POS hardware solutions.



In the cloud area, Oracle is adding four new retail-specific services.



• Using Oracle Retail Sales and Productivity Cloud Service, retailers can gain real-time insights into comparative sales, salesperson productivity, merchandise productivity, store sales, and store traffic.



• Retailers can also use Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning Cloud Service to facilitate collaborative planning across commerce, store and wholesale channels.



• New levels of business intelligence embedded in the Oracle Retail Demand Forecasting Cloud Service enable retailers to identify and fine-tune product selection, pricing and promotions for items sharing similar attributes, such as fashion trends or food flavors.



• Oracle Retail Customer Segmentation Science Cloud Service helps retailers identify why customers buy certain items and tailor offerings to meet their needs.



For its POS offering, Oracle is rolling out a series of new enhancements to its Oracle Retail Xstore Point-of-Service solutions. The latest release leverages capabilities and technologies gained from Oracle’s 2014 purchase of Micros Systems to offer the new Oracle Retail Xstore Point-of-Service Workstation solution. This application combines hardware and software to help conduct transactions via mobile point-of-service or at checkout.



Also, native integration between Oracle Retail Xstore Point-of-Service and Oracle Retail Merchandising solutions enable retailers to share merchandise hierarchy, item attributes, tag and label information, inventory and transaction information, and price management information between store and merchandising systems. Oracle Retail Xstore Point-of-Service is also integrated with merchandising, price management and sales audit modules.



Other suite highlights include retail analytics and optimization technology upgrades. New Oracle algorithms automate up to 90% of invoice matches. Across its entire offering, Oracle has made its solutions more mobile and designed its user interface to appeal to anyone already accustomed to common search and reporting tools as well as standard Internet browser applications.



“Engaging and maintaining customer loyalty across channels requires exceptional insight and integration from planning to marketing to fulfillment, and with this release Oracle brings all the pieces together,” said Jill Standish (Puleri), senior VP and general manager, Oracle Retail. “For the first time, retailers can use Oracle Cloud services to pinpoint promotions customers want to see, forecast and meet demand for items with unique attributes and manage inventory in a singular, more effective manner across commerce, store and wholesale channels,”



Oracle Retail 15’s cloud capabilities are a continuation of the enterprise giant’s longstanding strategy of cloud-enabling its retail portfolio. However, delving into POS hardware is a new and somewhat unexpected step (although sinking $5 billion into Micros made this a distinct possibility). It is another sign that the backbone of the seamless customer experience is indeed the good old fashioned brick-and-mortar store.