Oracle(R) iStore Demonstrates Strong Customer Momentum

Oracle(R) iStore Demonstrates Strong Customer Momentum EMC, Toshiba and Viking Range Among Customers Having Success With E-Commerce Product REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Jan. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following the release of its new sales-side customer relationship management (CRM) applications in August 2004, Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) today announced strong customer momentum for Oracle(R) iStore, the company's powerful e-commerce solution. Oracle added 76 new Oracle iStore customers this past fiscal year alone. Marquee customers who rely on Oracle iStore include: American Hospital Corporation, EAS, EMC, Hazelden Foundation, Infinity Resources, Inter-Tel(R), Incorporated, Master Lock, Plantronics, Qatar Steel Company, Specialized Bicycles, Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc., Viewsonic, and Viking Range. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020718/ORCLLOGO ) The latest version of Oracle iStore, part of the CRM applications in Oracle 11i.10, supports companies as they move toward more personalized marketing and sales initiatives by helping them align the right products and selling strategies to their customers' needs. As a key part of Oracle CRM, Oracle iStore allows companies to build, personalize and manage robust and fully scalable Web commerce sites in both B2B and B2C environments. Customers can increase revenue by using Oracle iStore to run online marketing campaigns, cross-sell and up-sell related products, create targeted catalogs and pricing and manage the entire order and inventory processes. Oracle iStore also integrates with Oracle Partner Management to enhance collaboration between a company's direct sales force, customers and partners. Using Oracle iStore, partners can work together on sales opportunities, manage accounts, seek assistance, initiate returns and place repeat orders. This functionality is critical as more companies move to a collaborative sales approach, merging activities across multiple channels -- direct, indirect and online. "As our continued success with this product demonstrates, Oracle iStore has been an essential tool for companies looking to add a powerful and scalable Web presence to their business," said John Wookey, senior vice president, applications development at Oracle. "By allowing companies a way to personalize online sales and marketing for their customers and by fostering collaboration between a company's sales force, customers and partners, Oracle iStore drives profits and reduces the complexity of enterprise selling." Inter-Tel Inter-Tel is a Tempe, Arizona-based communication solutions provider that serves business customers through a network of 59 direct sales offices and 350 providers. Oracle iStore provides the functionality to support e-commerce sales for Inter-Tel's channel partners. Oracle iStore gives Inter-Tel integrated and automated order management, replacing earlier labor intensive manual processes for sales logistics. "Since Oracle iStore was deployed, Inter-Tel has seen a dramatic increase in Web ordering, allowing us to significantly improve the efficiency of our sales logistics department," said Jon Klassen, CIO of Inter-Tel. "Adoption by channel partners has been very high, with approximately 80% of dealer orders being placed over the Web within six months of launching the site. Concurrently, we have seen a decrease in the order entry error rates as a result of self-service ordering along with a reduction in DSO." Specialized Specialized, started 30 years ago and is credited with the first mass-produced mountain bike, is an Oracle iStore customer. Relying on Oracle iStore, Specialized combined its catalog site with its web store enabling customers to view bikes and easily purchase bike components online or locate a nearby Specialized dealer. By consolidating these two environments, the company saved more than half a million dollars in the first year alone in Web hosting and development costs. "With Oracle iStore, we've achieved significant financial returns and are now able to target our customer segments with the right products and promotions and give them a single touch point for all order activities," said Ron Pollard, CIO and president of E-Commerce at Specialized. "And with the reduced transaction costs, our inside salespeople are able to focus on other tasks, which has increased our efficiency and driven profitability." Viking Range Another Oracle iStore customer is Viking Range, the originator of the "Professional" segment of major appliances in the USA who also introduced the first commercial type range for home use in 1987. Distributors purchase Viking products -- from gas range stovetops to barbeques -- via the Viking Distributor Extranet. They are able to view factory news, download sale support documents and view and order product online as a result of Viking's use of Oracle iStore. "We offer thousands of product skus in our online catalog. Our distributor business partners can learn about new products and either quick order or browse the entire product catalog," said Tim Tyler, eMarketing manager at Viking Range. "Viking invested in Oracle iStore to enhance our business to business sales channel and to allow these channel partners access to sales information and ordering." About Oracle Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, please 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. Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020718/ORCLLOGO AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Oracle Corporation CONTACT: Susanne Penner of Oracle Corp., +1-650-506-1973, or susanne.penner@oracle.com; or Jessica Epple of Zeno Group, +1-415-369-8113, or jessica.epple@zenogroup.com, for Oracle Corp. Web site: http://www.oracle.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment