Kostas Kontogiannis, CFO of Skroutz and Andreas Petropoulos, CEO of Convert Group gave an interview to “Naftemporiki” about the evolution of omni-channel commerce and the strategic role of data analytics as well as innovative technologies such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence and fast delivery apps in modern consumption and brand management.
“Just like in Europe, Greece is also seeing a steady upward trend in the penetration of e-commerce. It is estimated that this will continue in the coming years,” Kostas Kontogiannis, CFO of Skroutz, said. Regarding Skroutz’s strategy, he emphasized that “a basic principle of ours is to offer the best possible online shopping experience (almost 30 million products) to our more than 6 million registered users, and at the same time to make efficient and innovative development tools available to most of 8,000 of our partners. This philosophy is also the reason why we continue to grow and innovate.”
According to Kontogiannis, “we provide tools to our partners to grow their businesses, such as 3PL services, data & insights for the products they sell through the platform as well as ways to advertise them within the platform and by expansion to increase their sales. With regards to consumers, we invest in new innovative shopping options to continuously improve the shopping experience. We have created a network of more than 1,500 lockers which are expected to exceed 2,500 in 2024 covering the largest percentage of the country’s population, we have integrated flexible payment methods and we are enriching the platform with new categories and shopping options.”
On his part, Andreas Petropoulos, CEO of Convert Group pointed out that “the image of online shopping in Greece, as presented by Convert Group’s data, reflects a continuously increasing trend, with impressive growth in various sectors. Based on the figures we are monitoring, we see double-digit growth. Indicatively, each of the two channels is expected to close at 300 million euros in 2023, substantially increasing their penetration rate in the total turnover online and offline. Other sectors are moving similarly dynamically. An important trend is purchases from alternative channels such as fast delivery apps where they expand into categories and strengthen their penetration. This is both an opportunity and a challenge for brands and retailers. In terms of trends, there is an increased need for personalized shopping experiences, innovative technologies such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence, as well as improved payment solutions.”
Petropoulos explained that through Convert Group’s Market Intelligence service that Skroutz utilizes, “the 33,000 brands of all Skroutz categories gain a strategic advantage, receiving valuable information on a daily basis and having almost real-time access to data.”
Regarding how loyal consumers are to brands and what differences are observed in the consumer basket and the companies’ marketing strategy, Kontogiannis noted that consumers remain “loyal” to the brands they prefer while also exploring other products. Brands that leverage data to plan their strategy have a significant advantage over those that rely on intuition or estimates to plan their strategy. And yes, of course we have seen consumer behavior change through structured communication plans and a data-driven approach.”
He also emphasized that “Convert Group’s vision is to transform data into insights, which will be easily accessible by brands and will form the basis for a better and more efficient collaboration with retailers. Utilizing AI and machine learning technologies, we invest a lot in three axes where our development is based:
1. automated suggestions regarding what the brand needs to improve in the retailer,
2. the use of AI chatbots so that “everyone can easily converse with the data” and
3. the connection of each marketing action with its actual result in performance.
“Convert Group aims to establish itself as the world’s number one solution for the successful development of brands and retailers in omni-channel commerce, through data and insights. We are revolutionizing the way the two work together, enabling them to make data-driven decisions. We are currently active in 21 countries, with some of the biggest brands in omni-channel commerce among our clientele. We aim to expand to even more countries and markets in 2024.”
