Trust, cooperation and progress
«We last saw each other here three years ago. A lot has happened in this time, but opportunities can also be identified from the negatives. We would like to talk about this, among other things, today», this is how Daniel Stach opened the long-awaited event and started off by asking the CEO of Markant Česko / Markant Slovensko, Tomáš Sláma, and the CEO of Markant AG, Dominik Scheid to come up onto the stage. The two CEOs provided an overview of current and relevant services and new additions to the Markant Group portfolio.
«We should work together in the interests of consumers. I take your presence here today as a 'yes' to our cooperation and as a 'yes' to working together.», emphasised Dominik Scheid. «But how do we understand our own role at Markant? Our product range consists of services rather than goods. And our customers are not consumers. They are our customers, our industry and retail partners. And what you can expect from us is: trust, cooperation, progress.»
The basis for this is a service portfolio adapted to the partners' requirements that is permanently automated and digitised subject to the highest quality standards, continued Scheid. He focused on a particular aspect here: security, in particular «cyber security» is rapidly becoming more and more important with increased digitisation. That's why Markant addresses this issue emphatically and in great detail on a daily basis. «Offering our customers security and reliability has always been a part of Markant's DNA.», emphasised Scheid.
Tomáš Sláma followed up on this and presented the most fundamental changes and Markant Česko / Markant Slovensko's current service portfolio in detail: «Our business partners can use new options in payment transactions that relate to detailed, current and precise online information on payments and documents or new options to enhance payments for immediate liquidity.»
He explained the progress in EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), emphasised the benefits of it several times in reducing paperwork and stated that Markant is now the full provider for dm and Globus. However, he also emphasised the possibility of connecting smaller suppliers through a web interface. Numerous EDI message formats are available for this, said Sláma. «For me, the product information and our B2B data represent the core. By creating product data with us, you are reducing the manual work involved. The issues of data quality control and professional support with questions also play a major role for us in helping our partners as much as possible.»
Top-class speakers
The opening speaker Ladislav Csengeri, FMCG & Consumer Panel & Services Director of GfK CZ/SK, addressed the questions of how the current situation, which is very dynamic and characterised by many changes, affects the purchasing behaviour of consumers, how the situation is reflected in the behaviour of consumers and how the price level has developed in his presentation «Main areas of interest in 2022 – Prices and inflationary challenges, online purchasing, sustainable health and living».
This was followed by Jan Zadák, former global Vice President of Hewlett Packard, who held a presentation on «How can we win and be successful in the digital world of today» and advised viewing the current crisis as an opportunity because he believes something good can be found in every change.
The partners were invited to a lunch buffet together during the break where a lot of networking took place. After this, we continued with two exciting economic issues.
Šimon Pánek, CEO of the aid organisation «People In Need» also referred to the crisis in his presentation on «Effects and consequences of the current geopolitical crisis» and called for people to not remain passive, but instead to start by looking at themselves and save energy in small steps.
Tomáš Sedláček, author of «The economy of good and bad» and philosopher of economics impressed the audience with his lively speech «War economy» and wanted to give the audience hope to unequivocally stand on the right side of history.
Tomáš Sláma thanked everyone at the end for the cooperation and friendly relations with participating partners and promised that Markant will continue to adapt its services to continue to improve its partners' business processes. He also thanked the entire team and praised the event as one of the best information days that ever took place in Prague.