Oracle Retail has recently released v16 and this version includes many new features that align to the ongoing needs for retailers. Part 1 of this series on game-changing Oracle Retail v16 features discussed Exception Based Retailing and Simplifying ERP. Part two we’ll talk about Notifications, Mobile, and Configuration and Customization.

Notifications

In addition to dashboards, RMS will also use the notifications feature. This feature, configurable by user role, highlights when various business events occur in the application and informs the user about the event, as well as a hyperlink into the application to review more details and action upon it. For example, if a purchase order that had been submitted for approval is rejected back to worksheet status, the creator of the purchase order can be notified, so that they can correct any issues with the order and resubmit. RMS will provide a set of pre-configured notifications, but flexibility will also exist for retailers to define their own.

The snapshot below gives a quick preview of the operational ecosystem delivered to the retailer with enhanced user efficiencies and user experiences in RMS v16.

Mobile

Oracle Retail understands that an increasingly number of retailers are looking for ways to increase their productivity, both in the office and on the go. While it isn’t practical to attempt to execute all retailing activities on a mobile phone, there are opportunities to provide visibility to key processes and to perform some time-critical business functions when away from one’s desk. With v16, two new mobile features that are focused on RMS functionality have been introduced.

The first, Recent Orders, allows the user to view open purchase orders at a summary and detail level, as well as approve orders en masse, update dates, and cancel orders. The application also allows the user to send an email related to the data they are viewing in the mobile application, with a hyperlink to allow the user to launch into the order in context from their desktop.

Second, Recent Transfers, similar to Recent Orders, allows a user to view and approve one or more open transfers at a summary and a detail level based on the entry of a set of search criteria. The application also includes the ability to send an email based on the data being viewed that includes a hyperlink to open the transfer from their desktop. If retailers start using the v16 mobile app we can expect Oracle to invest further on this area and make the ERP more app based while they are also in the cloud.

Configuration and Customization

Merchandising ADF applications support several different approaches for retailers, as well as individual users, to tailor the applications to best suit their business practices. In a broader sense, RMS v16 enables tailoring of the application behavior through multiple facets comprising of configurations, extensions, customizations, and personalizations. Some examples include:

• Configurations, which refer to leveraging the Oracle Retail provided tools for tailoring the application like dynamic hierarchies, data based filtering, security role configuration to tailor the business process authorization, alter the labels driven by lookup tables, etc.
• Extensions, which refer to appending retailer-specific components to the base application through the use of flex attributes, hooks for introduction of custom rules in a number of RMS functional areas like item/PO/transfer approval, dashboard configuration to alter contained reports, move reports across role-based dashboards, etc.
• Customization, which refers to retailer-specific functionality that is implemented by modifying base functionality through the approach of seeded customization to customize application screen fields, search criteria, custom workflows, customize processing logic of an existing screen, etc.
• Personalizations, which refers to tailor the application behavior at a user specific level like personalized display of tabular data, search criteria in screens, flag a set of task links as his favorite, regional settings like number format, date-time format, display language locale, etc.

RMS v16 along with Merchandising Operations Management suite allows retailers to establish a solid platform for growth and innovation which seamlessly executes core retail operations across channels, countries, and business models.

– Raj Krishnamoorthy, General Manager, Logic Information Systems