River Island store, Union Square, Aberdeen
River Island plans to support growth strategy
By Retail Technology | Tuesday June 25 2013
UK fashion retailer will use Oracle to support its strategy for ‘commerce anywhere’ growth and international expansion
River Island has announced the selection of Oracle Retail Planning and Optimisation software to align planning practices across its business models.
The investment is designed to support its growing business by improving planning across multiple channels, with strategic implementation support from Oracle Retail Consulting.
Business process improvement
It will use the Merchandise Financial, Retail Assortment and Item Planning modules from Oracle Retail to manage current and future planning and lifecycle needs.
The three planning modules will establish more consistent and accurate planning processes, while a better understanding of merchandise performance throughout the business to inform profitable inventory investment and improve the customer experience.
The company, familiar on the UK High Street, has 300 stores across the UK, Ireland Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and multiple web, franchise and wholesale operations.
Optimising stock availability
“Global and omnichannel expansion is a key strategic focus and to do this successfully, Oracle will help us optimise our planning practices to support this growth while continuing to provide our customers with their must-have items, wherever and whenever they shop with us,” stated Doug Gardner, River Island chief information officer.
The statement from Oracle Retail said that, with a consolidated view of planning, River Island can reconcile all merchandise, financial, item and assortment plans to business targets. It can also improve accuracy and optimising in-season inventory, sales and margin performance, including exception management.
