ERP and CRM for retail

On 3rd and 4th of June, 2010, in RUI Pravets Resort Hotel in Pravets was held the first annual conference, organized by Progressive magazine – “Directions for development of the modern trade in Bulgaria – trends and perspectives”. During the two-day seminar, experts from leading Bulgarian and foreign manufacturing, distribution and FMCG companies, described the main features and directions for the sector development in Bulgaria. Among the lecturers were Mr. Nikola Košutić – Research Analyst at Euromonitor International, Mr. Alexander Camparevic, Executive Director at Piccadilly supermarkets, Mrs. Maya Gerasimova, Marketing director at Bella Bulgaria and many others.

The Progressive Retail Network events have been held for many years in a number of European countries where they have become very popular among FMCG companies. The first Bulgarian edition of the conference welcomed more than 120 delegates. This guarantees the future success of the seminar as a place where experts and leading managers of retail chains, distributors, importers and manufactures meet each year in order to share their ideas and know-how.

Intelligent Systems Bulgaria took part in the first panel with a presentation about the changes in the business environment, the new customer behavior and expectations, as well as their loyalty to the brand or to the retail chain; and how important for the companies is the proper CRM. Speaker was Mr. Kalin Tzvetanov, Managing Director at Intelligent Systems Bulgaria together with Mr. Orlin Dochev, Managing Director at Next Consult.

“The primary goal of the company is not the profit. The profit is the consequence of creating value for the customers. And whether we create value for our customers, we can easily find out if they are loyal to our products or chain and prefer them in time of crisis and in such high competitive environment. The customers’ loyalty depends on our treatment towards them – do we know our customers, do we meet their constantly changing needs and requirements, do we use a personal approach to each one of them; do we know the most valuable customers and which are the most appropriate communication channels for them. The answer is Yes, if we have the right tool for effective customer relationship management”, said Orlin Dochev.

“The customers and business environment are evolving. The successful management of the changes in them requires a detailed view of the entire activities within the company at every moment. The correct company respond to these changes is to adapt its resources and business processes by using integrated and flexible business management systems such as ERP and CRM”, added Kalin Tzvetanov who also explained the specific benefits of implementing such solutions for various companies in the retail sector – chains, distributors and manufacturers.

Intelligent Systems Bulgaria had also its own pavilion where the company’s specialists were available for questions and additional information.