Strategies for e-commerce success

Genoveva Petrova

Partner, REMIX

Business development and operations management professional with 15 years behind her back. One of the founding partners of REMIX. Responsible for the launch of new markets and overseeing marketing, front end/customer experience IT, customer support, and admin divisions at the company.

Previously, managed an IT company in Bulgaria & France for 6 years during which she participated in over 200 online and digital projects.

Has M&A and advisory background. Master’s degrees in Finance and International Relations. Undergraduate - Ithaca College and Cornell University, USA.
 

Nikolay Piriankov

co-founder and CEO, Taylor & Hart

Nikolay Piriankov is the co-founder and CEO at Taylor & Hart. He grew up in South Africa, away from his birth country, Bulgaria. After graduating from the University of Manchester in the UK, Nikolay started Taylor & Hart with his friend from school David Sutton to change the way people buy custom designed jewellery and engagement rings. Now Nikolay has expanded the company to include a team in Bulgaria and sales in the United States. Through Taylor & Hart, in 2016 Nikolay has raised investment from the VC Launchub in Bulgaria and participated in the Boston Techstars accelerator.

Eva Vucheva

Co-Founder and CEO, Contento.tech

Eva Vucheva is a digital entrepreneur, currently Co-Founder and CEO of Contento.tech, ecommerce consulting company.
Eva and her team have paved the way for e-commerce in Bulgarian, by bringing Fashion Days on the market in 2011. Until recently she was a Co-CEO of Fashion Days Group, a Naspers company and CEE’s leading fashion online store. 

Ilian Georgiev

Executive Director and member of the Management Board

Ilian Georgiev is Executive Director and member of the Management Board of Bulgarian-American Credit Bank.
Before joining the leading team of BACB, Ilian Georgiev was Head of Large Corporate Banking and Deputy Head of Corporate Banking at Eurobank EFG Bulgaria AD. From September 2003 to November 2005 he lead the Large Corporate Banking Department at Postbank. During the period April 1998 - August 2003, Ilian Georgiev worked for Economic and Investment Bank AD, where he was appointed Head of Corporate Loans in 2001.
Mr. Georgiev has a Master's degree in Economics from the University of National and World Economy, Subject: Accounting and Control.
 

Spas Slivkov

CEO, OLX & Shedd

Spas Slivkov is the CEO of OLX & Shedd for Bulgaria. The company is part of Naspers - one of the worldwide leaders in online classifieds. Spas has been with Naspers for more than 6 years and has helped create the habit in Bulgarian users to trade their used goods online. His new passion is Shedd - a mobile app-only vertical for Fashion that was launched on the Bulgarian market in January 2016. Spas will speak about the trends & technology that are reshaping e-commerce as we speak, and the fast shift towards mobile products in particular. Prior to Naspers, Spas worked for Leo Burnett Sofia & the American University in Bulgaria. He remains passionate about communication, marketing & advertising.

Vanya Manova

Country Manager for Bulgaria and Macedonia at Mastercard

Vanya Manova, Country Manager for Bulgaria and Macedonia at Mastercard, is accountable for the development and implementation of Mastercard’s local business strategy. In her role, Vanya drives innovation in both markets, related to Mastercard new tech solutions’ expansion and electronic payments’ growth, and further strengthen the collaboration and partnership with key customers, governmental bodies and the public sector. Vanya Manova joined Mastercard in 2008 as an Account Manager. Over the past few years, she has driven the local business operations and has helped to position Mastercard as a strategic partner for both end customers and non-traditional partners including local government institutions and regulatory bodies. She led the launch and growth of contactless payments in Bulgaria & Macedonia making Mastercard the ultimate leader in contactless field within these markets. Vanya has been working in the finance industry for more than 20 years. She started in 1995 as system administrator at the Bulgarian Russian Investment Bank (nowadays CIBank). Prior to joining Mastercard, she was Head of the Bank Cards Department at DZI Bank (later merged with Postbank). She graduated at Sofia Mathematical High School and holds a Master’s degree in Computer Technologies from the Technical University of Sofia.

Ognian Lahchev

Marketplace Manager, eMAG.bgager

Ognian Lahchev has been eMAG.bg Marketplace Manager since 2014. Ognian has been working in the ecommerce industry since 2009, having held different positions at Aukro.bg, the biggest online transactional platform in Bulgaria at that time, before joining eMAG in 2013.
He is managing a team responsible for merchants selling on eMAG.bg’s Marketplace. Since the launch of Marketplace in January 2014, over 570 companies have started selling on eMAG’s Bulgarian platform.
Ognian holds a degree in International Economic Relations. He is currently continuing his education at the Maastricht School of Management.
Ognian’s wide online expertise and experience are the main reasons for him to be a frequent presenter at various ecommerce events.
Ognian Lahchev has been eMAG.bg Marketplace Manager since 2014. Ognian has been working in the ecommerce industry since 2009, having held different positions at Aukro.bg, the biggest online transactional platform in Bulgaria at that time, before joining eMAG in 2013. Ognian holds a degree in International Economic Relations. He is currently continuing his education at the Maastricht School of Management. Ognian’s wide online expertise and experience are the main reasons for him to be a frequent presenter at various ecommerce events.

Rein Suijker

Executive Director, Ecommerce Foundation

Rein Suijker has been part of the ecommerce community since 1998. He has been in charge of marketing and e-commerce at Sony Benelux (consumer electronics), TUI (Europe’s largest travel organization), T-Mobile (telecom) and Thomas Cook (leisure travel). In parallel to these activities he founded the company Hobbygigant the Benelux leading webshop for creative woman. Since 2017 he is Executive Editor at Ecommerce Foundation, whose mission it is to facilitate global digital trade via research, knowledge sharing and creating trust, and Rein is e-commerce lecturer at TIO University of Applied Science (Awardwinning e-commerce educator in the Netherlands).

Milen Raikov

Partner, Tax and Law, EY Bulgaria

Milen Raikov is a Tax Partner for Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. He also leads the Law practice in Bulgaria. He is an Attorney-at-law, a Member of the Sofia Bar Association and a Co-chairman of the Tax Committee of AmCham in Bulgaria. Milen is also a Board Member in the Automotive Cluster Bulgaria. Having over 15 years’ professional experience in all fields of taxation, his key expertise is in the areas of indirect taxes, tax policy and controversy, and incentives advisory. He has worked actively on the preparation of the EU Accessions of Bulgaria and Croatia. Milen is author of numerous publications in the sphere of taxation.

Paul Copil

Founder & CEO, Qeops.eu

 Paul started in 2016 an entrepreneurial project called QeOPS, an e-fulfillment company, offering logistic services and business solutions to the vendors from ecommerce or retail. QeOPS is the acronym for Quality e-OPerationS - because quality is top priority for QeOPS team and the logistic know-how in e-commerce is their excellence.
With over 15 years experience in retail’ operations, Paul is one of professionals reference in the field in Romania. He began his career in operations in year 2000 in the FMCG sector, then continuing in the DIY retail for 5 years and starting 2011 he took steps towards e-commerce and he joined Fashion Days, where together with a young and enthusiastic team has developed a number of innovative projects that contributed to the company's growth in the CEE region. All these efforts were recognized in 2014 by winning two major awards in the logistics industry in Romania and in 2015 by winning the bronze medal at the European Logistics Awards in Brussels. In 2016 fall, after completing a big project for Fashion Days – relocation into a 14000 sqm new warehouse, build to suit, he decides to start his entrepreneurial adventure and founded his dream project – QeOPS.

Paolo Politi

International Sales Director - Nielsen Retail Pricing Services

For the past 20 years, assisting Retailers in the knowledge and optimization of pricing policies both in-store and online. Previously, Merchandising Manager at Gruppo Vègè, a leading Italian Retailer, and Senior Account Executive – Retail Services – Nielsen Italy
 

Alexander Kitov

Founder, Perpetto

Alexander is a Co-founder and CEO of Perpetto. He studied Informatics and Digital Media in Germany. While working in the German online marketing industry he was confronted with many bad practices in eCommerce marketing. After creating betahaus sofia and stopping another product, Alexander began work with two friends on the missed opportunities (mainly sales) of growing online stores due to the complexity of finding suitable products in their catalogue and the impersonal email communication with clients. The company's main goal is to change and make online shopping and client communication focused on the interests and needs of the individual person. Alexander is taking care of the company's future, which helps Bulgarian and international sports, fashion and multi-category online shops substantially increase sales and make shopping more fun. In 2014 and 2015 the team attracted local capital which helped them grow the business tenfold during 2016. Currently, they are testing a product that will change online shopping and hopefully become the de facto standard for quick and reliable product discovery online.

Murry Ivanoff

CEO, Metrilo

Monika Miteva

Sales & Marketing Manager, DHL Express Bulgaria

Monika starts her career in DHL Express Bulgaria back in 2000 as a Customer Service Agent. Throughout the years, she has been on various positions in Customer Service and later she moved to the Commercial Department. In 2006 Monika left DHL Express and joined the team of one of the leading telecom companies in Bulgaria. In the middle of 2007 she returned to DP DHL Group as a Commercial Director of Freight Division for Bulgaria and Macedonia. Since 2014 is Marketing and Sales Director in DHL Express Bulgaria and works for the company’s positioning as a strategic partner for both corporate and small/medium business, start-ups and online retailers. During her leadership, DHL Express develops and implements a consultation and support program for start-ups and existing online shops which aims to support the cross-border development of the domestic business.

Davide Mazzanti

CPO at Qixxit

Lyubomir Cholakov

General Manager, еCommera Linked by Isobar for Bulgaria

Lyubo Cholakov leads the eCommera, Linked by Isobar, center of excellence in Bulgaria where 160+ experts deliver ecommerce solutions globally for brands like ASDA / Walmart, Clarins, Adidas, Ecco, Bally, Swarovski, Jaeger, Godiva, Speedo, Dulux, L.C.Waikiki amongst others. Since joining eCommera, Linked by Isobar, in 2014, Lyubo has overseen the transformation of eCommera in Sofia from an engineering center into a hub for high-value ecommerce and technology delivery services and one of the best employers on the Bulgarian software market. Lyubo’s career in software services and digital retail began 17+ years ago at SAP before moving on to lead a start-up that became the fastest growing IT company in Bulgaria between 2003 and 2006 and international management roles at leading system integrators and UX consultancies. eCommera, Linked by Isobar is part of Dentsu Aegis Network, a leading media, digital and communications services companies with more than 35,000 employees in 145 countr ies.

Armando Rodríguez

Senior Project Manager, Privalia

Armando Rodriguez is a top Engineer from Mexico specialized in the industrialization of Digital Production Processes. He started his career as a Production Planner for the Delphi Corporation, and then took the responsibility of managing Inventory Planning for a Nissan Assembly Plant in México. He was then hired as a Business Specialist in the China Office of the Mexico Ministry of Economy, based in Hangzhou, where he spent over a year working as a link for Mexican and Chinese companies After his experience in China, he moved to Barcelona in 2010 where he joined Privalia, a small start-up at the time, where he applied his knowledge from the auto industry to lead the industrialization of the campaign production process. Privalia became a famous success case in Spain, culminating in the biggest sale operation in the e-commerce history of the country, when the French Vente-Privée Group acquired the Spanish company for 500 Million euros in 2016.

Zornitsa Chugreeva

CEO, BGmenu

Zornitsa Chugreeva has more than 10 years’ experience in managing IT companies. Since 2006, she is CEO of BGmenu. Part of the group HelloHungry, which operates in Romania under the name Oliviera, BGmenu is one of the largest platforms for fast and easy way to order food wherever you are in Bulgaria, choosing between over 550 restaurants and 30 types of cuisine. In the last 10 years, BGmenu is a pioneer and leader on our market. In January 2014, Launchub funded the company and BGmenu entered the Romanian market, taking leading position there with the brands Quicky & Oliviera. Together with BGmenu, they are part of the international brand HelloHungry.