Open Retail

Open Retail is division of the agency of marketing communications OPEN Group. Develops the innovation service of targeted advertizing campaigns for buyers of retail networks - Smart Checkout.

Business model

Focus of the company is aimed at shops of big formats – hypermarkets, supermarkets, and her direct clients are the FMCG producers and the companies rendering services in B2C segment.

For October, 2013 the company has no direct competitors in the Russian market. On a similar business model the American company Catalina Marketing which technology is set in retail chain stores of the USA, Canada, Japan and some countries of Europe and the local Indian player of Intellex Marketing works.

Performance Indicators

By 2017 (according to statements of October, 2013) the Open Retail company intends to reach revenue in the amount of $100 million. Until the end of 2017 it is going to sign contracts at least with 120 brands.

For October, 2013 the Smart Checkout system is installed in 19 supermarkets Victoria (Dixy Group) in Moscow and the Moscow region and 13 Coin shops in the Ural Federal District, the Baltika, CocaCola, JTI, MelBrands, SCA Hygiene Products, MB group of Impeks, Smokes, Hlebprom, etc. has current contracts with the companies.

History

2009

In 2009 the Open Retail company began investment into development of the innovation automated system of marketing communications for Russia – Smart Checkout which is intended for management of behavior of the buyer in sales points.

It is essentially new communication channel with buyers of retail stores which is used for promotion of goods and services and allows to inform of the address advertizing message the representative of target audience.

At the heart of Smart Checkout technology – a hardware and software system which allows to define most precisely requirements and preferences of the specific buyer during payment of goods at the checkout of shop, and on the basis of these data to create the offer, unique for it.

In 2010 system development was successfully complete, and in April, 2011 on it the patent of Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks was taken out.

2013: Prostor Capital invests $2 million in Smart Checkout

On October 16, 2013 it became known that the Prostor Capital venture fund invested about $2 million in the Smart Checkout project developed by Open Retail company.

Alexey Solovyov, the managing director of Prostor Capital, comments: "We investigate long ago a segment which we conditionally call "offline + online". It is about projects in which business model both components are put that gives effective synergy of business processes and cost reduction. For example, the online store of footwear where the buyer orders footwear via the website can be its good example, and to take away it comes independently on a warehouse of shop. Such approach gives huge economy on logistics and advertizing actions. From Smart Checkout we found not only the model corresponding to these parameters, but also the project, revolutionary for the advertizing market, which considerably changes idea of opportunities of targeting of advertizing and is unique in own way at the moment in a case. Potential of this segment is huge".

"The volume of the Russian market of indirect advertizing (BTL) in 2012 was 80.4 billion rubles that is 18% more, than a similar indicator of 2011, - Alexander Shurov, the director of Open Retail comments. – And this digit constantly grows. However in the conditions of competitive struggle gain traditional instruments of marketing glitch. The modern consumer is so spoiled by various options of drawing attention that just ceases to react to them. It needs to be surprised and involved constantly in interaction with a brand and to convey information most selectively. This problem is solved by our system. We are sure that Smart Checkout will be able to repeat success of the western analog – Catalina Marketing companies which now (October, 2013) influence purchases of 75% of consumers in the USA. Together with Prostor Capital we will be able to expand this new format of communication with consumers in the Russian retail, having connected new retail chain stores to the project, and in the future to make it available in all territory of Russia".