On Monday, 2 September 2019, HomeChoice, a Retail and Financial Service products provider, announced a new eCommerce website in partnership with Oracle. The website will be hosted on Oracle Cloud Commerce (OOC), a new platform developed by Oracle and built as a cloud-based software-as-a-service platform from its on-premises solution, ATG and Endeca search.
According to HomeChoice, they have over 900,000 customers, with the majority of them being female. Over 86 per cent of the customers are registered for digital access in the Financial Services business, and over 23 per cent of retail transactions are conducted through either mobile devices or over the web.
“We are exceptionally proud to be the first to go live with [the] technology solution in Africa. The implementation of OCC is part of our journey to take advantage of best of breed cloud solutions, drive our business growth plans and support the changing needs of our customers who are becoming more digital. We are committed to [providing] an easy and seamless shopping experience for all our customers, not only for purchases but also account management,” said Dirk Oberholster, Head of Technology, HomeChoice. “HomeChoice’s unique customer proposition of bundling products for purchase on credit resulted in challenging implementation requirements and Oracle provided ongoing support with enhancements to the product to suit these distinctive needs,” Oberholster added.
OCC plays a role in HomeChoice’s technology strategy to replace its application with cloud-based systems that are supported by service-based architecture built in-house. HomeChoice claims that the new website will make it easier for customers to browse HomeChoice’s digital catalogue, as well as manage their accounts more efficiently. This includes updating contact information and requesting settlement letters. Plans for OCC include expansion into other customer-facing systems. These include systems in use by customer service teams and sales agents. HomeChoice opted for a gradual release for the new website to gain feedback from early adopters to be implemented before the platform launched for everyone.
“Working in conjunction with our customer analytics team, we’ve identified customers to be included in an early phase rollout to solicit feedback. We’re now fully live and will use this platform to bring exciting innovation to our customers,” commented Oberholster.
Edited by Kojo Essah
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