Oracle's (ORCL) Latest Offering To Aid Retailers Predict Sales

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) recently rolled out Size Profile Science offering to assist retailers in predicting sales and improve inventory management accordingly. The solution is part of its latest Oracle Retail Science Platform Cloud Service.

With an aim to aid retailers improve margins and provide competitive edge, Size Profile Science utilizes robust artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools to provide optimal strategies.

The retailers can utilize the latest solution to gain targeted assortment tactics across outlets as per location and seasonal demand. Moreover, Size Profile Science provides automated alerts as required to reduce manual workloads.

Oracle’s move to ramp up Retail suite is in sync with the company’s strategy to capitalize on the digital commerce market.

Digitally Evolving Retail Sector Holds Promise

Oracle is leaving no stone unturned to improve its retail portfolio to include more AI-engineered offerings. The increased spending by retailers to digitally transform their business processes in order to expand market reach favors the prospects of the latest offering.

In general, per IDC, global spending on technologies and services will enable digital transformation to reach $1.8 trillion in 2022.

Customers in the digital era demand a synchronized shopping experience across multiple sales channels, be it online (desktop or mobile or any other device), telephone, or brick-and-mortar outlets. This is where retailers opt for AI-based intelligent solutions to optimize business and drive sales.

In fact, per Gartner as revealed by Oracle, the use of advanced personalization engines (utilized to be familiar with evolving customer tastes) is anticipated to drive profit levels of digital businesses by up to 15% by 2020.

Oracle’s growing clout in retail domain, primarily in digital commerce reinforces the company’s growth prospects. The company’s evolving Customer Experience (“CX”) strategy enabling retailers with AI and cloud driven digital innovation is a positive.

We believe advanced features of the latest offering will boost adoption, consequently bolstering the top line in the days ahead.

Consolidating Applications Market: A Woe

Major software companies are increasingly resorting to acquire smaller innovative players to acquire and upscale robust data analytics capabilities into their systems to gain a competitive edge.

The recent acquisition of Tableau (NYSE:DATA) by salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) , Oracle’s prominent peer in digital commerce market, is quintessential in this regard.

Consolidating applications market is fueling competition in the software sector, which is not conducive to the Oracle’s growth prospects at least in the near term.

Zacks Rank & Key Pick

Oracle carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock worth considering in the same industry is Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE:RST) , sporting Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth rate for Rosetta Stone is pegged at 12.5%.

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