DDF upgrades to Oracle Retail Release 16

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) is the first customer to upgrade to Oracle Retail Release 16, announced Oracle.

In less than eight months, DDF completed its upgrade of Oracle Retail Merchandising System, Price Management, Invoice Match, Sales Audit, Warehouse Management, Store Inventory Management and Retail Insights from Release 12 to Release 16. The upgrade project also included interfaces to e-commerce, the point-of-sale system, warehouse automation and the Oracle E-business suite.

The new functionality of Release 16 will increase user productivity through exception-based retailing, persona specific dashboards, operational efficiencies and widespread mobility. Additionally, the new technology allows click and collect with accurate inventory visibility and best-in-class processes with Oracle Commerce and Oracle Retail.

“Oracle understands the Middle Eastern market and is constantly extending the breadth and depth of its applications to match the challenges of modern organisations in all industry sectors,” says Ramesh Cidambi, COO, DDF. “DDF incorporates Oracle Retail solutions that reflect the retail expertise, knowledge and understanding that we need as our business continues to grow.”

“Tata Consulting Services (TCS) partnered with my team and Oracle Retail to ensure the project was delivered on time and within budget. DDF established a ‘Train the Trainer’ programme and anointed a User Acceptance Team to ensure a smooth roll out across the enterprise,” adds Cidambi. “Setting up an Oracle Customer Management Office for better turnaround time on Service Requests has helped in timely resolution of priority issues. TCS provided expertise, enthusiasm and a collaborative approach to the implementation. The implementation of Oracle Retail is one of the smoothest implementations of my retail career.”

“Airports are by definition the retail environment where speed matters most,” states Ray Carlin, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Retail. “To deploy Oracle Retail Release 16 in such rapid time reflects the pace at which technology disruption is changing the ways people shop and is an incredible achievement by DDF and TCS.”

One of the largest airport retailers in the world, DDF provides customers with first-class service, excellent value, a wide range of quality products and a world-class shopping environment. Now employing almost 6,000 people, the brand has consistently raised the benchmark for airport retailing while welcoming more than 78 million shoppers in 2016.