The demand for CRM solutions is increasing in the retail field, as announced at the annual conference Make IT Work: Retail 2015, organized by Balkan Services.

The number of the projects for implementing CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems in the retail sector in Bulgaria is only 15, which is 4% of the Top 100 retail companies. However, these 15 businesses generate 12% of the total sales.

In comparison, the number of implemented ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems in the retail sector is over 100, which is 28% of the Top 100 retail companies. Furthermore, 20 retail companies have implemented BI (Business Intelligence), which makes about 10 % of the Top 100. All this data was presented at the annual retail conference Make IT Work: Retail 2015. The event was held on 7 April at Sofia Hotel Balkan and it attracted over 100 specialists in the field of retail sales and distribution. The conference organizer was Balkan Services, a leader in implementation of software solutions for the Bulgarian retail business.

Some of the most successful projects for implementing business software in retail companies were presented at the conference, among them Debenhams Bulgaria, Vinprom Peshtera, FF Group Bulgaria, Wurth Bulgaria. The event ended with a question and answer session where representatives of the retail sector could get additional information about the business software systems.

Balkan Services representatives announced the creation of FiVa, a new solution which collects and validates data regarding sales and stock from distributors and wholesalers. The collected data is used for creating Sales Out and Sales In analysis based on the Business Intelligence platform. Another new product created by Balkan Services is S1, a solution offering a ready set of enquiries and analyses taken from the most popular POS systems in Bulgaria. The solution is sold as a service following the model SaaS (Software as a Service) and it’s targeting smaller retail companies.