Slovakian Sportswear Retailer Selects Oracle Retail to Drive Forecasting, Allocation and In-Season Inventory Management BARCELONA, Spain, WORLD RETAIL CONGRESS, March 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EXIsport, a leading sportswear retailer in Slovakia, has selected Oracle(R) Retail merchandising applications to support the growth of its business as it expands across Central and Eastern Europe, Oracle announced today. The Oracle Retail applications will help EXIsport to more accurately forecast, allocate and manage in-season inventory across its 20 Slovakian stores and as it expands into Poland this year. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020718/ORCLLOGO ) EXIsport's strategy is to expand into markets that it can penetrate quickly. The retailer has identified key markets within Central and Eastern Europe that share similar seasonal profiles and where its existing store format fits well. To help meet its goal of expanding into a new country each year, EXIsport required a best practice approach to retail processes that supports a scalable platform for future expansion. The retailer selected Oracle Retail applications based largely on their proven track record of delivering rapid value and allowing for easy integration with future implementations. "The future of our business relies on international expansion," explains Tomas Bel, CEO of EXIsport. "Our business has reached a market saturation level locally, and in order to successfully expand and compete effectively internationally, we need to manage the business better and identify 'opportunity' benefits which enable growth, maximise profit, and deliver rapid speed to value on our investments. Oracle Retail's partnership and pedigree has supported the creation of a strategy to deliver value on a consistent, scalable basis which aims to deliver a leaner and more successful retail business." The Oracle Retail platform will help the sportswear retailer to maintain control over its operations and sales, underpinned by a standard set of planning and forecasting processes. The integration of Oracle Retail Allocation, Oracle Retail Price Management and Oracle Retail Category Management into the platform will enable EXIsport to more accurately align in- store stock offering with customer demand, in order to drive better seasonal inventory management and allocation throughout the store as well as optimise pricing decisions. EXIsport expects to complete implementation of the Oracle Retail applications later this year in time to deliver winter season sportswear into its stores. Additionally, the retailer has invested in the Oracle E-Business Suite including the Oracle Financial Management and Oracle Human Resources Management System applications. "Oracle Retail is committed to a roadmap with EXIsport that focuses on delivering consistent value and driving a leaner, smarter and more compliant business as the retailer expands across Europe," said Graham Newland, Senior Director for Retail, EMEA at Oracle. "We expect that EXIsport's business will benefit greatly from Oracle Retail's experience and proven success in working with global fashion retailers." About Oracle Retail Oracle is the number one provider of innovative and comprehensive industry software solutions for retailers - enabling organizations to serve their customers better by applying insight into daily business decisions for more profitable results. With software that provides supply chain, operations, merchandising, store systems, optimization and information technology solutions, Oracle partners with the world's leading retail companies, including 17 of the top 20 retailers worldwide, to transform the economics of their businesses. About Oracle Oracle (Nasdaq GS: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com/ . Trademarks Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020718/ORCLLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Oracle Corporation CONTACT: Kevin Ruane of Oracle, +1-617-621-5593, or ; or Beth Axon of jd marketing, +44.208.297.5388, or Web site: http://www.oracle.com/

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