River Island Creates Single View of Inventory with Oracle Retail Planning

Fashion Retailer Aligns Planning Practices Across its Business Models

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Jan 16, 2018, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE -- Today, Oracle announced that River Island deployed Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning to support their Omnichannel growth and digital transformation. River Island operates a global portfolio of over 320 stores across the UK and Ireland and internationally throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe. With a global footprint and multiple web, franchise and wholesale operations River Island required new tools to make more accurate and impactful inventory decisions for continued growth.

River Island had the vision and courage to become an Omnichannel retailer before it was vogue. River Island operates an award-winning online fashion retail site, employs one of the biggest in-house design teams on the British high street and maintains a deep commitment to nurturing new talent which have enabled the brand to become one of the most successful fashion retailers in the UK. As River Island experienced continued growth in the UK and internationally they understood the value and necessity of a single view of order and inventory to scale their business.

"We knew that Omnichannel was the future and had to make a strategic move. We partnered with Oracle to get there. A single view of inventory is the key to fulfilling demand and operating more effectively," said Doug Gardner, Chief Information Officer, River Island. "Through this transformation, we needed to change the way our business worked. People had to come together and properly go through the design of the implementation."

As an early adopter of Omnichannel planning, River Island partnered very closely with the Oracle Retail Consulting team to align towards business objectives correctly. Together, River Island established more-consistent and accurate planning processes to better understand how merchandise was performing across channels.

"Sometimes you have to have the courage to level set in the middle of an implementation. You want to get it right because you need a foundation to operate with going forward," said Gardner. "By implementing Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning correctly, we are now about to evaluate profitability, reduce markdowns and follow a single version of the truth for the whole business."

"In our 2017 global consumer research 'Retail in 4 Dimensions,' we found that 43% of consumers are now shopping both online and in-store every week. The multichannel shopper spent nearly twice as much as a single channel shopper this fall. River Island took notice of these trends early and shifted their strategies to be more nimble and agile in the face of shifting consumer demands," said Ray Carlin, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Oracle Retail. "Retail has advanced at an unprecedented pace with an evolution of strictly brick and mortar retail to a complex Omnichannel world where purchasing online and collecting orders how, where and when one wants has become the standard."

Oracle Retail at NRF 2018

Oracle Retail will be showcasing the full suite of Oracle Retail solutions and cloud services at the National Retail Federation Big Show Jan. 14-16, 2018, in New York City at the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center. Oracle Retail will be located at booth #3521. For more information check out: www.oracle.com/retail

About Oracle Retail:

Oracle provides retailers with a complete, open, and integrated suite of best-of-breed business applications, cloud services, and hardware that are engineered to work together and empower commerce. Leading fashion, grocery, and specialty retailers use Oracle solutions to anticipate market changes, simplify operations and inspire authentic brand interactions. For more information, visit our website at www.oracle.com/retail.

About Oracle

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SOURCE Oracle