Shop Direct: Making good things easily accessible to more people
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- Europe
Country
- United Kingdom
Product
- Oracle Database 11g
- Oracle E-Business Suite
- Oracle Fusion Middleware
- Oracle Product Information Management
- Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server
Tech Stack
- Oracle Database
- Oracle E-Business Suite
- Oracle Fusion Middleware
- Oracle Product Information Management
- Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Customer Satisfaction
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Database Management & Storage
Applicable Industries
- Retail
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Sales & Marketing
Use Cases
- Demand Planning & Forecasting
- Inventory Management
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Shop Direct Group is a multi-brand online retailer that trades through digital department stores including Littlewoods.com and Very.co.uk. The group has grown to become one of the UK’s largest online retailers, with more than GBP 1.8 billion in annual sales. Shop Direct has been making big changes to its operating model in recent years, transforming from a catalogue-driven business into a world-class digital retailer. Today, 86 percent of the company’s sales are made online, with more than half originating from mobile devices. To remain the go-to choice for savvy online shoppers, it is critical for Shop Direct to ensure that the right product is available in the right place and at the right price.
The Challenge
Shop Direct, a multi-brand online retailer, has been transitioning from a catalogue-driven business into a world-class digital retailer. With 86 percent of the company’s sales made online, it is critical for Shop Direct to ensure that the right product is available in the right place and at the right price. However, with its business growing, the group found it increasingly difficult to manage rapidly expanding numbers of products and related information. The previous approach to product management and stock planning was largely manual, with most buyers working from their own spreadsheets. This resulted in a lack of a consistent way of managing and forecasting inventory, and a limited view of products and pricing across the group.
The Solution
Shop Direct decided to re-engineer the way it manages products and pricing. The group turned to Oracle to provide the retail software platform that would sit at the heart of its new approach to product management. As a first step, Shop Direct worked to centralize data across multiple brands and departments into a single repository, built on Oracle Product Information Management (PIM). The PIM repository is integrated with a new financial and assortment planning application, developed using Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server (RPAS). With the new planning solution, merchandising teams can easily manage estimates, buying and selling prices, and offers for all group products. Shop Direct also takes advantage of Oracle Fusion Middleware solutions to serve as the strategic backbone for the bulk of its application landscape.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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