Liz Claiborne Taps Oracle Retail Solution

Apparel company to implement Retail Price Optimization in outlet stores to keep merchandize moving off the shelves

Redwood Shores, CA — October 10, 2005 — Apparel retailer Liz Claiborne has selected the Oracle Retail Price Optimization solution to implement in over 200 of its outlet stores in the United States to give the outlet merchants the ability to capitalize on additional buying opportunities by clearing merchandise earlier in the season to make room for fresher merchandise for shoppers.

Liz Claiborne values the ability to quickly move inventory in-season because outlet shoppers expect new arrivals each time they visit. "One of our key initiatives this year is to improve merchandise freshness by reducing inventory carry over from season to season," said Liz Claiborne Outlet President Paul Thomasset. "To do this, we must adopt a more sophisticated approach to in-season management and provide our merchants with the ability to make better, more consumer-driven decisions."

Oracle said that its Retail Price Optimization solution will give the outlet merchants better visibility into the performance of merchandise, enabling them to identify underperformers earlier in the season and make decisions accordingly. This will help free up "open-to-buy" dollars, enabling merchants to buy new items more quickly in order to better satisfy consumer needs.

"Oracle is helping the world's leading retailers establish more insight-driven operations, from supply chain, through merchandising, to the stores," said Oracle Senior Industry Director for Retail Gladys Lau. "Liz Claiborne is a great example of an innovative retail operation taking an insight-driven approach."

Oracle's retail solutions include the Oracle, Retek, ProfitLogic, JD Edwards and PeopleSoft product lines. By combining Retek's retail planning and execution solutions, ProfitLogic's retail optimization software and Oracle's database infrastructure and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications, Oracle said its retail solution can help customers drive sales, reduce costs, improve collaboration and gain real-time business insight.



Additional Articles of Interest

— The focus in the retail sector has shifted from managing the movement of goods to managing information about goods. Read more in "Ramping Up the Retail Supply Chain," in the February/March 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.

— Bad packaging, poor handling and substandard shipping and receiving practices account for more than half the returns in the supermarket industry, and the use of folding cartonboard could significantly reduce unsaleables in the industry, one research project has found. Read about the GENCO study of frozen food manufacturers in the SDCExec.com article "Bad Packaging, Poor Handling Seen Driving High Unsaleables."

— Lean is still a top priority for many organizations, and now leading enterprises are applying lean principles to the supply chain. Read about the challenges in building a "lean supply chain" in "The Value of Being Out-of-stock (Almost) Everywhere," the Final Thoughts column in the April/May 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.





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