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Nordstrom's Collaboration with Infor Boosts Digital Growth

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With technology ruling the world, most individuals, households, entities and sectors are opting for an upgrade. The retail sector, in particular, has been adapting itself to the evolving trends and the ever changing needs of customers. Progressing on these lines, leading fashion specialty retailer, Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN - Free Report) chose to enhance its point-of-sale (POS) system, by collaborating with Infor Rhythm for Commerce – a cloud based POS that forms part of Infor.

Infor provides business applications and is a technology partner for over 90,000 associations across the globe. Further, Infor’s software, is specialized by industry, and is designed to suit needs across varied networks. For instance, Infor Rhythm for Commerce is part of Infor CloudSuite Retail, with the former being a contemporary setup that enables retailers to provide omni-channel shopping experience.

Notably, Infor Rhythm for Commerce interconnects back office systems with e-commerce platforms. Leveraging its facilities, store associates can utilize product and inventory information, which will help them locate and order the appropriate products seamlessly across the supply chain on any device.

Thus, partnership with Infor will provide Nordstrom the tools to enhance its accuracy and consistency across different locations, alongside helping it to manage and track information better. Further, the upgrade to this innovative POS will enrich Nordstrom’s reach and in turn improve customer experience.

Nordstrom has been making technological advancements for a while now, as management believes that the current environment strongly needs organizations to provide an integrated experience, be it across the stores, online or social media. Thus, Nordstrom chose to adopt this cloud-based platform which sets another example of its readiness to break the typical old school business model.

Nordstrom’s efforts to evolve with the changing retail patterns is also evident from the fact that its total online business grew to more than $3 billion in fiscal 2016, marking an increase of nearly 30% (on an annualized basis), since 2010. Further, e-commerce marked about 25% of Nordstrom’s business, up from 8% in 2010.

Going forward, Nordstrom remains committed toward allocating a major portion of its capital efficiently for multichannel growth, improving merchandise offerings; developing IT infrastructure to enhance web and mobile experience of customers; renovating stores with a modern look and developing fulfillment centers to enable speedy delivery to online customers.

Clearly, these factors, along with Nordstrom’s latest deal with Infor, highlight its focus on shifting from a four-wall retailer to a business that supports multiple networks.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Nordstrom currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). While its shares have declined 22.6% over the last one year, it is almost in line with the Zacks categorized Retail – Apparel/Shoe industry’s decline of 22.9%.
 



Better-ranked stocks in the same industry include The Children's Place, Inc. (PLCE - Free Report) and Kate Spade & Company , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Foot Locker, Inc. (FL - Free Report) with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Children's Place has an average positive earnings surprise of 39% in the trailing four quarters. The stock also has a long-term growth rate of 10.3%.

Kate Spade, with long-term earnings per share (EPS) growth rate of 28.3%, has delivered positive earnings surprise in the last two quarters.

Foot Locker’s long-term EPS growth rate of 9.7% and impressive earnings surprise history bode well.

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