Oracle Retail Blog helps retailers stay current on customer successes, hot retail trends and industry best practices.
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Omnichannel
January 8, 2020
Stores Turbocharge Sales with Oracle Mobile and Inventory Innovations
Mobilized associates plus RFID-based inventory smarts drive higher customer satisfaction and sales.
The 2019 holiday season saw a rush of consumers taking advantage of new, more convenient options such as checking out via mobile tablets or buying-online and picking up in-store or curbside (BOPIS). But what happens when those items aren’t ready as promised? Sixty-three percent of consumers will walk away from a brand forever or at a minimum consider an alternative. Enhancements in the Oracle Retail platform allow store associates to stay informed and ready to help customers anywhere in the store and inventory is easily tracked and ready for distribution, so pick-up promises are met. The result – happy customers, staff and increased same-store sales.
“The future [of retail] belongs to visionary leaders and forward-thinking organizations that are able to break the shackles of legacy systems and accelerate mastering digital-first strategies,” commented Leslie Hand, vice president, IDC Retail Insights. “The strongest businesses will be truly customer focused, with big shifts in internal culture that prioritize data-driven decisions and personalized approaches to experiential retail. In-store mobility and inventory accuracy across the shopping experience – from research and discovery to selection and fulfillment – are essential to empowering consumers and associates alike.”
Delivered in the cloud, key enhancements to the Oracle Retail Platform help retailers deliver on the modern, seamless in-store experiences customers are demanding. With these tools, every stakeholder in the retail enterprise is empowered to serve customers and can quickly access and action inventory through:
- Mobilization - As the retail environment pivots towards a customer-centric model, the focus is to bring the associate out from behind the cash wrap to engage earlier in the customer shopping process. Mobility is a key enabler, putting associates where customers are, anywhere in the store, and removing the need for traditional register hardware platforms. The latest release of Oracle Retail Xstore POS enables retailers to deliver a fully mobile store with all features and functions required to manage that environment being available on a Tablet or Thin Client.
- Accelerated Implementation - Oracle Retail Xstore Office Cloud Service centralizes all back-office elements of store operations, eliminating the need for data center investment. This provides a faster implementation timeline and creates a more responsive business model attuned to shifts in consumer preferences.
- RFID-enabled inventory and efficient customer order fulfilment - Oracle Retail Store Inventory Operations Cloud Services provide accurate, real-time visibility into discrete store inventory positions, which is critical to deliver great customer service and capitalize on selling opportunities. Depending on the unique customer journey, inventory for customer orders is seamlessly picked, packed and made available for customer pick up or shipped from the store.
“Despite the headlines, the majority of sales are still happening in-store, so every moment a customer interacts with that location matters,” said Jeff Warren, vice president of solution management, Oracle Retail. “Whether it’s arming a store associate with the right knowledge and tools to deliver a positive customer experience or ensuring pre-ordered merchandise is ready without a wait, retailers need to put customers at the center of all their business processes and decisions to continue to move the needle on in-store sales.”