J.C. Penney recently made headlines again, this time in a more positive light when the company announced it was replacing its outdated technology infrastructure with an Oracle-based system, and, beginning this fall, would start to test the use of RFID tags on store merchandise. Other planned enhancements include the use of self-checkouts and mobile checkouts.

The company has endured its share of struggles recently with its radical strategy of eliminating sales and implementing the new simplified three tiered pricing structure. The simplistic approach seemed to have potential on the surface, but ultimately left many customers missing their coupons, confused about who determines the “fair price” and if in fact they were getting a bargain on their purchases. The company has responded most recently with yet another change in its pricing strategy – eliminating one of the tiers and bringing back the word “clearance.”

Amidst the sweeping changes in pricing and marketing there was also the plan to invest in an Oracle system. The retailer will implement Oracle Retail applications for merchandising operations management, merchandise planning and optimization, supply chain planning and execution, and Oracle Retail’s stores solutions to simplify processes, reduce layers and equip business teams to better shape assortments and respond faster to customer preferences.

“We need an IT foundation that delivers real-time, mobile access to accurate information throughout the organization,” said Kristen Blum, Chief Technology Officer. “We selected Oracle based on its deep retailfunctionality and the fact that it is proven to handle the volumes of transaction, customer and business data generated by a large organization.”

With this investment, CEO Ron Johnson’s vision for the company continues to take shape and the backbone of the operations will be much improved.

Chain Store Guide researches retailers, restaurants, distributors and wholesalers in the United States and Canada. CSG’s Databases of Retail and Foodservice Technology contain over 2,600 companies and profile the technologies that are used in companies operating 25 or more stores.