For over 10 years, I have been involved in business development in the CEE region, providing SaaS solutions, and IT consulting services in the SMB and Enterprise sectors. For the last 6 years I have been focusing on the Commercial Real Estate and retail markets, working closely with investment funds, property owners, operators and tenants. As a result, I have spent many years understanding the various areas of commercial real estate, from property and asset management to leasing and marketing.
This experience gave me an insight into what is important for the future of Brick-and-Mortar. I discovered that digital transformation is the only way for physical retail to survive the challenges facing the retail landscape and prepare for future changes. Although the digitalisation of the consumer journey in physical retail is progressing, the vast majority of shopping centers still feel the impact of online shopping. Therefore, tailoring customer engagement and loyalty solutions has never been more poignant for supporting both acquisition and retention strategies.
The decision to join Coniq came naturally to me. The chance to cooperate with the leader in Total Customer Engagement was extremely attractive. I felt that I could have a real impact on the growing needs of the shopping mall market. Coupled with the value that Coniq’s innovative technology provides to the most recognisable clients in the region, it was an exciting opportunity to develop my career with some of the best in the industry.
Understanding the challenges and expectations of the shopping center industry is crucial to ensuring its success. The saturation of local markets and the fierce level of competition means that centres need flexible, ready-made solutions that clearly address their needs. For example, building a visitor base, aiding segmentation and omnichannel interaction, collecting data insights, creating loyalty rewards and gamification to improve user experience etc.
Coniq understood these needs and I felt that their product offering exhibited a necessary medium to support the future of retail destinations and ignite important discussions into digital transformation and omnichannel retail strategies.