March 27 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian home DIY retail chain Praktiker has tripled its in-store and online sales since the launch of a new omnichannel commerce solution in partnership with global tech giant IBM seven months ago, IBM said on Monday.
During the seven months since going live, the new website has been visited by 750,000 unique users, as traffic has gradually tripled from around 1,500 visits a day to an average of 5,000 a day, IBM said in a press release.
"In the same period, Praktiker’s monthly in-store and online sales have almost tripled—and with increased average transaction values," it added without providing figures.
In five months, IBM provided a complete business management and integrated web solution service to Praktiker, from performing the data migration to building the first online catalogue of around 10,000 products. Since the solution is fully integrated with business systems such as warehousing, product picking, logistics and procurement Praktiker can now execute simple price changes, product promotions and marketing campaigns within hours when it used to take days.
“Working with IBM, we're digitally transforming and personalizing the customer experience. For example, we can create special offers for individual customers and link to in-store promotions such as assembly or delivery services. These allow us to tailor each order so it precisely fits their specific needs--giving us an edge over competing retailers,” said Kalin Georgiev, chief of electronic data processing department at Praktiker Bulgaria. “The advanced features of the new e-commerce platform combined with the expert advice from IBM Global Business Services differentiated our business and resulted in increased sales and profit.”
The new site enables the customer to access additional information from an online catalogue of over 40,000 items.
"The retail market is changing and becoming ever more complex. Retailers are facing a wider diversification of customer needs, global competition and empowered customers," said Igor Pravica, country leader, IBM Bulgaria. “We are happy to support Praktiker to use data-driven insights to align to the needs of their customers and to best business decisions which put them on the path for long-term success."
In 2014, Videolux Holding acquired the Bulgarian operations of the German home improvement chain Praktiker. The company operates nine DIY hypermarkets - two in Sofia and one in Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Pleven and Veliko Tarnovo - carrying around 40,000 home improvement products.