REDWOOD SHORES, CA--(Marketwire - Apr 30, 2012) - Oracle (NASDAQ: [ ORCL ])

News Facts

• Masters Home Improvement has implemented an extensive footprint of [ Oracle® Retail Merchandising, Supply Chain and Stores ] applications in only 13 months to support its growing operations in Australia.
• A joint venture between Australia's largest retail group Woolworths and US home improvement chain Lowe's, Masters brings a highly competitive new approach in home solutions to the market and has opened ten stores since launching in September 2011.
• Masters is using the Oracle Retail applications to manage its core retail operations, providing a scalable foundation upon which it has launched the new business and is now supporting an aggressive store rollout strategy that includes 100 sites in the next five years.
• Adopting a rapid multi-phased approach, Masters first implemented the full suite of [ Oracle Retail Merchandising applications ] and [ Oracle Retail Demand Forecasting ] to develop core merchandising and supply chain processes throughout the business.
• This has enabled Masters to manage all vendor and item master data, and is supporting ranging, pricing, forecasting and replenishment processes between head office, the distribution center and stores as they open.
• Implementation of Oracle Retail Stores application suite followed providing a single platform for store operations to centrally manage inventory, transactions and customer information, and deliver a superior customer experience in store.
• Underpinning the Oracle Retail platform are [ Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) ] and [ Oracle Database 11g ].
• Oracle Retail was selected to support the Masters business because of its extensive retail functionality and scalability, integration capabilities with other Woolworths systems, and flexible implementation approach that would enable Masters to deliver the project within tight timelines.
• Following investment in Oracle in February 2010, implementation of the core merchandising and supply chain applications went live within 13 months in April 2011, and Oracle Retail Stores applications went live in September 2011. Currently Masters has 10 large retail Home Improvement Stores open.
• A further phase of implementation to provide additional supply chain and wholesale integration and e-commerce capabilities is underway.
• The deployment was supported by [ Oracle Partner Network (OPN) ] members, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) managing the implementation of the store application suite plus the program's technical infrastructure and integration, and Logic Information Systems, managing implementation of merchandise and supply chain elements of the project, alongside Oracle Retail Consulting and support services. Production support is being provided by TCS and Cognizant.

Supporting Quotes

• "Our goal is to ensure that our technology platform underpins the unparalleled quality, service, range and value in an environment that has been designed to meet virtually every need of home improvement consumers," said Warwick Jones, Business Technology Manager Masters. "We identified Oracle as key to creating a scalable, integrated retail platform that could support our aggressive growth strategy and tight implementation timelines, but also shared our goal to deliver a superior customer experience."
• "We are delighted to be working with Masters to bring this exciting new concept to market," said Mike Webster, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Oracle Retail. "Retail is all about the shopping experience and Masters understands that to drive profitable growth and meet customer priorities, they need to provide superior customer experiences and align these with smarter internal decisions and processes."

Supporting Resources

• [ About Masters ]
• [ Oracle Retail ] on [ Facebook ], [ Twitter ] and [ YouTube ]
• [ Oracle Retail International Blog ]
• [ Oracle Insight-Driven Retailing Blog ]
• [ Oracle Retail in the News ]
• [ Oracle Retail Asset and Centralized Knowledge Portal ]
• [ Oracle in Retail ]

About Oracle Retail
Oracle provides retailers with a complete, open and integrated suite of business applications, server and storage solutions that are engineered to work together to optimize every aspect of their business. 20 of the top 20 retailers worldwide -- including fashion, hardlines, grocery and specialty retailers -- use Oracle solutions to drive performance, deliver critical insights and fuel growth across traditional, mobile and commerce channels. For more information, visit our Web site at [ http://www.oracle.com/goto/retail ]

About Oracle in Industries
Oracle industry solutions leverage the company's best-in-class portfolio of products to address complex business processes relevant to retail, helping speed time to market, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge.

About Oracle
Oracle engineers hardware and software to work together in the cloud and in your data center. For more information about Oracle (NASDAQ: [ ORCL ]), visit [ www.oracle.com ].

Trademark
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.