Oracle Retail expands cloud services portfolio in wake of Micros buy

Oracle introduces six cloud services to help retailers get to grips with loss prevention, customer engagement and inventory management

Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Published: 08 Apr 2015 13:45

Oracle drew on its 2014 acquisition of internet-enabled point-of-sale specialist Micros Systems to expand its portfolio of cloud offerings focused on the retail market.

The database giant added a further six cloud services to Oracle Retail, designed to give retailers access to e-commerce, loss-prevention and order-fulfillment tools.

They include the Oracle Retail Brand Compliance Management Cloud Service, which aims to accelerate a product's passage to market, through automation; and the Oracle Retail Customer Engagement Cloud Service, designed to help firms manage loyalty card schemes.

On the e-commerce side, there is an all-in-one platform to give users access to search engine optimisation, site search and personalisation tools to increase the visibility of their websites and attract prospective customers.

Retailers respond to market changes

There are also offerings geared towards helping retailers manage their inventory across online, in-store or call centre-based sales and distribution channels, allowing staff to verify a product is in stock before completing an order.

Lastly, there is the loss prevention-focused XBRi Cloud Service. This will allow retailers to pinpoint suspicious activity in their organisations, using a mix of business intelligence and surveillance tools.

Jill Puleri, senior vice-president and general manager of Oracle Retail, claimed the introduction of the services will help retailers cut costs and respond quicker to market changes.

“The new Oracle Retail Cloud Services help eliminate the time and cost constraints that too often hamper retailers’ ability to respond to new opportunities for growth,” said Puleri.

“Just as important, Oracle Retail Cloud Services allow retailers to focus on their business and work on strategic projects that add value to the business.”

Retail focus

Since Oracle completed its $5.3bn acquisition of Micros Systems in September 2014, it has been taking steps to reinforce its standing in the retail sector.

During a conference call to discuss the firm’s most recent set of financial results, Oracle CEO Mark Hurd said the acquisition had allowed it to branch out into new areas, such as hospitality.

Oracle's decision to tailor its cloud offerings to the needs of specific vertical markets is what gives the firm its competitive edge, said Hurd.

“Without going through each one of them, they do give us strong differentiation because, when we sell in these industries, we’re talking to business buyers. We’re talking to retailers, we’re talking to CEOs, we’re talking to the heads of merchandising,” he said.