The Future of Retail (Retail in Detail 2019)

Jonathan Boiria

Head of Sales EMEA, SoftBank Robotics Europe

As the Head of Sales for EMEA, Jonathan leads SoftBank Robotics’ EMEA business strategy with a strong focus for in-store deployment of humanoid robots, bringing value to retailers by merging digital and physical experiences. Since 2016, he has been developing SoftBank Robotics partnership ecosystem to enhance the value of robots for retail, through innovative solutions

Alex Ursu

SEE Manager, Marketing solutions, Salesforce

With over 8 years working experience with some of the world’s largest technology solution and cloud platform providers, Alex has experience both on the local and the international technology market. Throughout these years he has worked with customers in the CEE region on digital transformation and customer experience projects. Currently he works as a Regional Manager for Salesforce Marketing for CEE.

Andrea Picchi

Head of Experience Design, River Island

Andrea Picchi has a background in cognitive psychology and computer science; he continued his education in human-computer interaction at Stanford and business and design thinking at MIT.
With 20+ years of experience in the design field, in the past 10+ years, he has been leading teams and personally contributing to the creation of products and services used by millions of users.
He had worked with, and for, companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, Nokia, and Sony, but also Virgin Media, Ryanair, British Airways, and currently River Island.

Zana Busby

Consumer & Business Psychologist and Director, Retail Reflections

Zana Busby is an experienced psychologist and author, having spent over 20 years studying and practicing psychology and psychotherapy.
As a Business Psychologist she specialises in cognitive-behavioural science, offering insights into decoding the mind of the consumer.
Her main focus is on the role cognitions, emotions, mood and gender differences play in shaping and influencing the customer journey and consequently consumer buying decisions and behaviour.
Prior to joining Retail Reflections, Zana worked in the private sector studying mental health and wellbeing.
She is author of the self-help book Life Equilibrium.
 

Milena Dragijska

CEO, Lidl Bulgaria

Milena Dragijska is in charge of the management of Lidl Bulgaria since its establishment in 2007. She started her career at Lidl in 2002 as regional sales manager for the regions of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. 
She continued her career in the Lild headquarter working in different international projects for Lidl International.

She is a board member of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
 

Oggy Popov

Founder & CEO, Broshura.bg

Oggy Popov is a retail marketing visionary, founder and CEO of the leading drive-to-store marketing company in the CEE region, Broshura.bg (part of Prospecto Group). Oggy is a believer in the opportunities the mobile device offers to retailers and brands to reach the consumers in a native, location-based and performance-oriented way. His solid background in digital marketing he earned while working for some of the largest affiliate marketing networks in Europe. Prior to founding Prospecto Group 6 years ago, Oggy worked as affiliate manager at the leading Dutch digital agency Blue Mango Interactive (part of WPP).

Andrei Popescu

Country Manager eMAG Bulgaria

Andrei has been with eMAG, one of the largest online retailers in Central and Eastern Europe, since 2015 and in just four years, he became the Country Manager for the company in Bulgaria. Though very young, Andrei has emerged as a leader after graduating the Future 25 program, a unique talent accelerator created by eMAG to find the brightest and most promising future leaders inside the company. Previously as Commercial Director for eMAG in Bulgaria, now Andrei is coordinating all the activities from the Country Manager position. With a rich experience gained in one of the Big 4 consulting firms, Andrei has a strong experience in e-commerce, sales, pricing and human capital. For eMAG, Andrei contributed directly to developing the business by maximizing sales and profitability through automatic pricing. Andrei holds a Master Degree in Advanced Research in Finance and an MBA from the Maastricht School of Management.

Matthieu Jolly

Service and Innovation Manager, Echangeur, BNP Paribas Personal Finance

Graduated from ESC Toulouse, Matthieu has been working for 15 years primarily on consumer knowledge, decoding their buying motivations. After in depth analyses on CRM databases, he has helped big retailers such as Auchan, Core, System U ot But he has brought in 2014 his skills to Echangeur by BNP Paribas Personal Finance convinced to the impacts of service innovation on retail.

Konstantin Djelebov

Co-founder and CEO of phyre

Joana Tsoneva

Marketing Manager, IKEA Bulgaria

Alex Kovachev

Founder, CEO & Creative Director, IDEA

Graduated in Design and Visual Arts from the New Bulgarian University. Founded studio IDEA International in 2003. Member of the Management Board of the Association of Interior Designers in Bulgaria. Winner of the "Designer of The Year" award in the year 2017. Currently the team at studio IDEA is handling build projects including high end residential, hotels, restaurants and bars, at locations such as Los Angeles, London, Germany and Norway. The firm’s recent awards include the International Hotel Awards 2019-2020; A’Design Awards 2019; the German Design Award 2020 and the Restaurant and Bar Awards.

Ivan Gramatikov

Head of Retail Space, C&W Forton

Ivan Gramatikov has over 10 years of experience in commercial real estate business in Bulgaria and the Balkans of which 7+ years at managerial positions for various organizations. Prior joining Forton he was leasing manager at RESB where he was involved in major retail projects such as Mall Sofia, Mall Plovdiv and Mall Rousse. He has diversified track record gained through work for consultancies, development companies and property management organizations in Bulgaria. Mr. Gramatikov has solid background in commercial real estate field, skilled in negotiation, property management, budgets, business partnering and team management. Mr. Gramatikov is Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration May, Finance and Marketing concentration, Economics Minor, American University in Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria and specialization in Marketing I & II, International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Martin Dimitrov

Regional Brand Manager, MARS Incorporated Bulgaria

Martin is creative and business-savvy marketing and sales professional with 10+ years of progressive experience across a broad range of marketing and sales functions and varied industry segments. Before joining Mars as Regional Brand Manager in 2016 he has been working as Brand Manager at SiS Industries, DEVIN JSC and Heineken Zagorka Brewery.

Kiril Marinov

General Manager & Board member Henkel Poland, Beauty care

Kiril has 20 years of professional experience in fast moving consumer goods, 11 of which in Leadership roles. He was working and living in Bulgaria, Austria, Latvia and Poland with local and international responsibilities in Sales: 9+ years, Marketing: 5+ years and General Management 5+ years. Last 9 years of his career he was been working as Head of Key Account Management at Henkel CEE, General Manager Henkel Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and currently General Manager Poland Henkel Beauty care. Having master’s degree in International Business and Management he also holds degrees in International Economic Relations and in Financial control. On the side of his corporate career he was conducting trainings in Sales and Negotiations, studying and having certifications in NLP and Executive coaching.

Iva Mihova-Mitrovska

Regulatory and PR Manager, Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria

Iva Mihova-Mitrovska is the Regulatory Affairs and Public Affairs Manager in Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria, with over 10 years of experience in the fast-moving consumer goods business. In the company Iva manages the relations with institutions, regulators and local authorities. She works closely with key branch organizations, chambers of commerce and employers’ organizations. She manages company projects in the field of sustainable development and innovation. Iva has a Master’s in Sociology and Public Communications, she has years of experience in communications and sustainable development. She has specialized in the field of sociology, public communications and international relations in the European Commission in Brussels, the Central European Initiative in Trieste, the Rennes Institute of Social and Political Sciences. Throughout her career, Iva has been responsible for the external communications in Veolia-Sofiyska voda and has been a director of the International Relations Department in the Council of Ministers, where she managed the external communications of the sectors – environment and water, transport and information technologies, social policies and European integration.

Gabriela Staykova and Stoycho Pampov

Founders of craft brewery Rhombus, Bulgaria

Boris Borisov

Managing Partner, Soapfactory

Over 20 years of experience in a multinational environment in Retail Oil, FMCG and Insurance sectors with proven success records in the fields of management, sales and people development. I’m strong leader - formal and informal, result oriented with "can-do" attitude and personal drive Boris is a team player who generates enthusiasm and winning attitude in the team. Specialties: Retail Sales; Negotiation; Operation; B2B sales, B2C, B2B2C sales; Companies: OMV, April International, BNP Paribas Cardif

Ivo Dimitrov

Co-founder, Paleo Natural Group

Milen Georgiev

Сo-founder and CEO, Extrapack

Milen Georgiev is the co-founder and CEO of Extrapack - Bulgaria's largest shopping bag manufacturer. He has been dealing with the environmental aspects of packaging since 2004, when the company began its expansion in Western Europe. In the coming years, his team developed, tested and marketed various packaging with a reduced environmental footprint: degradable, recyclable, reusable and more. The experience he has gained in this field helps him to take the company to a leading position in Europe's retail packaging industry. Milen is a computer engineer graduated from the Technical University of Sofia. He spends his free time with friends and his family.

Shakir Ahmedov

CEO OmniChannel

Albena Georgieva

COO, BILLA Bulgaria

Anna Draganova

Manager, dm Bulgaria

Iliya Belev

Chief Operations Officer, T Market

Vasil Vasilev

Director Food Division, Kaufland Bulgaria

Lyubimir Harsev

Director of Financial and Administration, Lidl Bulgaria

Boyan Rashev

Managing Partner, denkstatt Bulgaria

Boyan Rashev is one of the leading sustainability experts in Bulgaria. In 2007, he became a founding partner of the Bulgarian office of denkstatt. Today, the company is a leader in providing advisory services in the field of sustainable development and environmental management in the country. denkstatt is accelerating the transition to a sustainable economy by helping its clients reduce their impact on the environment while maintaining economic profitability; to implement innovative solutions that meet sustainability challenges and enhance their competitiveness. In 2012, Mr Rashev was among the finalists of the competition for young managers Next Generation. He holds a Master degree in Environmental Management and Resources from Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus, Germany, and also studied in Bulgaria (Geology), Austria and Venezuela.

Georgi Malchev

Managing Partner, Xplora

Georgi Malchev is Managing Partner of Xplora.bg - integrated digital marketing agency with slogan Human Digital. It took only 12 months after its creation for the agency to become one of the leading digital marketing agencies in Bulgaria. The company won the pitches for full digital marketing of Toyota, Medix, Easycredit, Primex, and the social media and performance marketing of Microsoft Bulgaria, and 4 more companies. Clients for digital services are Nestle, BLD Homes, Whirlpool, Telus, Shedd and over 30 more companies.
Georgi has over 15 years of experience in marketing, communications and business development, as well in operations management - as business consultant, manager, director, COO, board member.
Georgi is advisor to several startups, among which TaxiMe, Esceo etc. He has experience as mentor at Eleven and Launchub, and keynote for Founder Institute, Start It Smart, Unistart. Georgi was partner in a startup that was part of Batch 3 of companies, supported and financed by Eleven.
Georgi is member to the Board of IAB Bulgaria. He leads the White Paper for Digital Marketing Case Studies. He teaches classes in marketing, advertising and communications at New Bulgarian University. He is moderator and keynote speaker at digital marketing forums and is member to the jury of advertising forums.
 

Anton Krantev

Business Development Manager Intelligent Video Solutions at Konica Minolta Bulgaria

Anton Krantev – Business Development Manager for Konica Minolta Bulgaria, responsible for MOBOTIX Smart Video Solutions, has more than 12 years’ experience in extremely dynamic field of Information and Communication Technologies leading projects for Video Surveillance, Security, IoT, Big Data, M2M, Smart Metering and more.
 

Georgi Kostov

Business Development Manager Intelligent Video Solutions at Konica Minolta Bulgaria

Georgi Kostov as an engineer of Information Technology has more than 10 years of experience in selling and implementing of Video Analytics solutions. As a Business Development Manager at Konica Minolta, he is responsible for MOBOTIX brand.
 

Valentin Savov

partner at Savov & Partners

Valentin Savov is a Bulgarian attorney with more than 14 years of legal experience gained in leading law firms in Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and Japan. Valentin is member of the Executive committee of the International Fiscal Association. Since 2010, Valentin is listed as external consultant and expert to the tax authorities in the field of international tax law, transfer pricing and application of tax treaties. Valentin is a frequent speaker at local and international seminars and conferences and regularly contributes to publications of Leiden University and other academic institutions.
Valentin is partner at Savov & Partners, a fully-fledged law firm with a large international network, providing legal and business services to local and international clients.

Yasen Tanev

regional director for Eastern Europe, Zucchetti Bulgaria