How Perry Ellis & Oracle are Transforming the POS Experience
When it comes to serving customers in the physical retail space, it's easy to become lost in merchandising, product, price, and other factors. However, a major element of the retail shopping experience is found in the effectiveness of the point of sale process — something retailers are rapidly becoming more aware of.
The global market for POS solutions hit $62.34 billion in 2018 and is predicted to grow by 7.8% between 2019 and 2025. The top priorities for retailers involve adding capabilities to their existing POS systems, complying with payment security standards, implementing omnichannel integrations, creating a unified commerce platform, updating systems and hardware, and rolling out mobile POS solutions.
This is something men's clothing retailer Perry Ellis understands all too well, having embarked on regular updates of its own POS capabilities, including a recent upgrade to the latest product by POS heavyweights, Oracle.
Perry Ellis
To help streamline the final and arguably most crucial step of the in-store shopping experience, Perry Ellis has converted from its older version of the Oracle Retail Point-of-Service solution to the new Oracle Retail Xstore Point-of-Service platform.
Designed to facilitate faster store transactions for customers and associates, the Oracle Retail Xstore Point-of-Service platform comes with a range of innovative features that helps Perry Ellis achieve just that. Previously manual tasks such as applying discounts can be significantly sped up, and associates can access a real-time view of current inventory to better answer customers' questions and eliminate disappointment due to incomplete stock information.
"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 Vice President of IDC Retail Insights, Leslie Hand. "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."
The platform also comes complete with a mobile component, which allows associates to serve customers and even take payments from anywhere in the store, negating excessive queueing times. Using the tablet system, associates can also pull up a customer's purchase history and use that information to make suggestions on further purchases.
Customer Engagement
Not satisfied with overhauling its POS system, Perry Ellis wanted to take a new look at its entire customer management operation and bring that screaming into the 21st century as well with Oracle's Retail Customer Engagement Cloud Services.
"Delivering the right product and promotion at the right time has never been more important," writes Oracle in a blog post. "However, with retail in a state of near-constant change, particularly when it comes to personalization and the customer experience, working with a CRM solution that is not built specifically for retail use cases makes tailoring the customer experience an unattainable goal."
Perry Ellis's previous CRM platform simply wasn't providing the kind of data segmentation and analytics the brand needed to meet the needs of its loyalty program members. With over one million customers in the scheme, the jury-rigged [for retail] legacy system simply wasn't passing muster anymore. It would require significant customization and investment to bring it up to scratch.
With the installation of a completely new platform that is purpose-built for retail, Perry Ellis can quickly and easily reward and retain customers for their purchases, optimize margins, offer personalized, relevant, and timely promotions across channels, achieve greater service levels with quick access to customer profile data, attain a single, real-time, 360-view of its customers across all touchpoints, reduce marketing operation costs by streamlining workflows, and much more.
"Replacing their limited and antiquated CRM solution was an essential step for Perry Ellis International," concluded Oracle. "To stay competitive, the company must provide the kind of customer engagement and personalization today's consumers expect. By gaining a flexible CRM solution, Perry Ellis achieved a holistic view of their customers to better build brand loyalty and deliver memorable customer shopping experiences."
Final Thoughts
Technology is at the core of providing the kinds of experiences modern consumers demand. However, in the flurry of exciting innovations like augmented reality, beacons, and the internet of things, it can be easy to lose sight of the basics. The POS process is arguably one of the most important elements of the retail experience. With a heavy investment in the latest technology and a lucrative partnership with Oracle, Perry Ellis is making sure it doesn't lose any customers during that crucial last step.
You can hear Vice President for Retail Services at Perry Ellis International, Jennifer Stone Williams, speak at Future Stores West 2020, taking place in June at The Sheraton Seattle.
Download the agenda today for more information and insights.
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