The neighborhood grocery store is often the epicenter of the surrounding community. And the way the grocery retailer treats its customers is often the defining factor in patrons’ decision to spend their money within its walls or to take their business down the road.
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kroger Co. knows this well. As one of the largest grocery retailers in the country with stores that operate under nearly two dozen banners, not to mention sales of $82.2 billion in 2010, it‘s fair to say it knows a thing or two about how to treat customers.
Success, however, has not enticed the grocery retailer to rest on its laurels. On Friday, Oracle (News 
- Alert) relayed the news that Kroger has chosen its Agile Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) for Process “to establish a platform for continually improving customer experience.”
“After a comprehensive analysis, we selected Oracle as the solution to help Kroger continue to provide our customers with the highest quality corporate brand food and beverage products available in the market,” said Payton Pruett, vice president of Corporate Food Technology for Kroger. “At Kroger we are continuously searching for ways to better serve our customers and believe that Oracle’s Agile (News - Alert) PLM for Process will enable our organization to deliver even more on our Customer 1st mission.”
Oracle said Kroger will use Agile PLM for Process to integrate and streamline all aspects of product development, including managing specifications, suppliers, formulations, packaging and labeling, compliance and quality.
According it Oracle product literature, Agile Product Lifecycle Management for Process “enables companies to shorten cycle times, increase sales, lower costs and reduce risks associated with innovation.”
Kroger reportedly selected the Oracle solution because it offers “deep functionality” specific to grocery operations; for instance, it is designed to provide the ability to support all of the different types of food and non-food products offered within grocery retailers’ stores. In addition, it is said to offer a complete end-to-end suite of integrated applications that Kroger believes will help in its effort to continue to innovate and enhance grocery solutions.
“We look forward to leveraging Oracle’s Agile PLM for Process solution as we further streamline operations, improve the customer experience, and lead the grocery market through innovation and a commitment to excellence,” said Chris Hjelm, chief information officer, Kroger.
In other news, TMCnet reported that one of Alaska’s oldest energy companies, ENSTAR Natural Gas revealed that it has chosen Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing as well as Oracle Utilities Business Intelligence in a move to not only better understand its customers’ needs to enhance its billing capabilities and the customer service it offers.
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Linda Dobel is a TMCnet Contributor. She has been an editor in the contact center space for more than 25 years, and has the distinction of being the founding editor of Customer Inter@ction Solutions (CIS) magazine. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
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