National Pharmacies, a retail chain in South Australia, was looking for technology improvements that would drive innovation and allow better engagement with its customers. With help from DXC Technology, the company consolidated enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications and moved them to the cloud, resulting in many benefits, including the ability to target consumers with personalised special offers.
“We would love to continue to leverage DXC with their global footprint, their innovation that they brought to our project, and use that innovation in future projects and future challenges that we have.”
Ryan Klose General Manager of Corporate Services, National Pharmacies
Established in 1911, National Pharmacies operates more than 40 pharmacies and 20 optical stores in the South Australia region. To better serve its 300,000 members, the company embarked on a digital transformation strategy focused on updating its technology to meet shifting customer challenges of better engagement through mobile and social channels.
Seeking an IT services organisation with extensive experience in Oracle technology and the retail industry, National Pharmacies selected DXC Practice for Oracle to support the transformation. DXC Practice for Oracle is the largest independent provider of Oracle consulting and managed services in Australia and New Zealand.
Targeting Consumers
National Pharmacies wanted to maintain its 100-plus-year legacy of helping consumers in South Australia improve their health. Ryan Klose, general manager of Corporate Services for National Pharmacies, says to do so, the retailer needed to become a better innovator, and deliver technologies fast and at a low cost. “Many of our consumers are using mobiles today, whether they’re purchasing or talking about what they’ve purchased or what they’re going to purchase next,” Klose says. “Our technology had to change to compete.”
“Many of our consumers are using mobiles today, whether they’re purchasing or talking about what they’ve purchased or what they’re going to purchase next. Our technology had to change to compete.”
Ryan Klose General manager of Corporate Services, National Pharmacies
Innovation serves as the centrepiece of National Pharmacies’ strategic plan, Klose says. “We see innovation as a disruptor with our competitors, and also with our consumers to get their attention.” Klose says he sees the transformation project as a catalyst for change in the company’s business strategy. “It’s allowed us to rewrite our next few years so we can now really target consumers. Making it easy for our consumer is our primary goal.”
By consolidating ERP applications and putting them into the cloud, National Pharmacies can more easily develop consumer-friendly applications and services, while engaging with customers in a more consistent manner. One example is the introduction of a countdown clock feature in the pharmacies’ app that displays the amount of time remaining for a consumer to receive personalized special offers based on their previous purchases.
In addition to moving applications to the cloud, a key to enabling improved consumer engagement was a major upgrade of National Pharmacies’ backend business processes and planning systems. Using Oracle technology, the retailer created a library of standard business processes and practices that could be easily accessed. Not only has re-using standard processes made functions such as fulfilling customer orders more efficient, but it has helped the company streamline overall business operations.
Improved Integration
Another key to the transformation was DXC’s introduction of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.2 in the Oracle Cloud. Among many benefits, the new applications platform allows for better integration with employee and customer mobile devices. For example, pharmacy employees can use an iPad tablet to enter stock orders, and managers can approve those orders in real time.
With the transformation, National Pharmacies became the first customer transitioned to Oracle’s Australian data centre for cloud infrastructure. Following go-live, DXC continues to provide managed services and support. Klose says DXC has also helped National Pharmacies leverage its existing investments in Oracle technology.
An important success factor was the highly collaborative relationship National Pharmacies built with DXC. Klose says, “DXC is now a trusted partner. We whiteboard ideas together, and we take those ideas together and form action plans to deliver projects in the same way we delivered our initial project.” Going forward, Klose wants to keep the relationship going. “We would love to continue to leverage DXC with their global footprint, their innovation that they brought to our project, and use that innovation in future projects and future challenges that we have.”