OREANDA-NEWS. IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that Technopolis, a leading consumer electronics retailer in Bulgaria is working with IBM to streamline and personalize its customer experience and improve the efficiency of its e-commerce platform to provide customized offerings online and in-store. f

Technopolis, a prominent consumer technology and electronics retailer operating more than 30 stores and generating over EUR 250 million in annual revenues. It currently offers 25,000 types of electronic appliances and accessories with aggressive plans to grow its market share by 40 percent by the end of 2016.  Previously, up to 30 percent of customer online purchases were incomplete, resulting in customer service center calls for manual resolutions.

Technopolis teamed with IBM to merge its offline and online customer experience and increase operational efficiency. The new e-commerce platform integrates data-driven insights to deliver a consistent customer experience via both digital and physical touchpoints. Shoppers are now able to pick up the purchases they made online in the physical store, receive customized promotional offers, and access near-time updates about the availability of their favorite products.

Within the first few months of the system going live, the e-commerce platform was 70 percent more efficient and the number of online orders almost doubled. Technopolis can now design and develop targeted online promotions in response to specific opportunities in real time. Personalized marketing campaigns that formerly took three to five days to create and implement are now carried out within an hour and all orders are now completed on time. With the elimination of incomplete customer orders calls to the customer service center were reduced around 50 percent.

"Incomplete orders and inefficient back end processes create an overall bad buying experience,” said Venelin Nikolov, Head of Telecommunications, Technopolis.“Strategic advice from IBM Global Business Services combined with this new e-commerce platform offers our customers a consistent, personalized brand experience both online and offline, helping Technopolis take the next steps in its expansion plans.”

"Retailers are facing a very challenging environment with consumers who are increasingly savvy and informed," said Steve Laughlin, General Manager of Global Consumer Industries, IBM. "IBM is working with Technopolis so it can use data-driven insights to better understand changes in consumer behavior and capitalize on real time opportunities across the industry."

About Technopolis

Technopolis is a prominent Bulgarian consumer technology and electronics retailer operating more than 30 stores and generating over EUR 250 million in annual revenues.

It currently offers 25,000 types of electronic home, office and automotive appliances and accessories and a number of additional customer services including free home delivery, complementary installment, flexible payment options and loyalty programs.

About IBM Retail

IBM is the global leader in the consumer products industry – forty of the fifty top retailers globally use IBM retail capabilities and solutions.