Time for Nenad Cetkovic in our “E-commerce Folks” series! He is the COO of the e-commerce automation solution Lengow, which optimizes product data feeds worldwide.
In “E-commerce Folks” we introduce e-commerce professionals to our readers through a short questionnaire with all the same 15 short sentences to finish.
Short & sweet: no facts and figures, no case studies, no company’s strategies. Just them and their quick insights about e-commerce.
My adventure with e-commerce started when… I bought online my first domain name… in 1997. Found it so easy that the same week, I tried again ecommerce and bought this time my first vacations online on a US website…
…But when I was a child, I wanted to be… an engineer then a developer… and pursued the dream up to a PhD… Then I just decided business was more fun and shifted … #WrongPath
The most overrated thing in e-commerce is… voice e-commerce! I have a Google device at home and I’m still wondering how I will buy something with that… Of course, the sector will evolve, but I think we’re still far away for an emerging significant business…
The most underrated thing in e-commerce is… optimization of the data. The e-commerce client is more and more aware and wants all kind of details. Lack of information or incorrect info can just make people turn away from a site and go for another one where they find that info. Merchants are not focusing enough on that in my opinion…
The biggest success I had working in e-commerce was… the biggest success is always yet to come… if not, you’re retired! 😊
The biggest mistake I made in e-commerce (and how I dealt with it) was… So many mistakes done, difficult to choose the worst one! But about mistakes, one thing I’m 100% sure: ecommerce environment is ever changing. What may be the right thing to do one day, may be a big mistake to do six month later… So, if you have a good idea, push it quick and push it hard! And in general, people should not worry too much about mistakes! Personally, I don’t trust people pretending they‘re making no mistakes… Two possibilities in my view: they’re either lying… or they don’t do anything…
This year’s hottest trend in e-commerce is… Web to Store and social shopping with Instagram are this year’s most frequent topics in Europe… On social media, with Facebook and Instagram initiatives we’re probably at the beginning of a big wave of “sales” to come. Like the one we see in China with tools such as WeChat where the only KPI which matters is… turnover generated.
In 10 years, e-commerce will… be pervasive with no “e-“anymore. Just Commerce, as all channels are converging every day. The digital tools will just become an easier way and a more sophisticated tool to achieve the golden goal: Enable a consumer to access what he wants, whenever he wants it, and wherever he is…
When I hire people, I care most about the candidate’s… the 5/10 first minutes where we can talk about any topics or any subject… I look and try to figure out If I “see” the candidate at the position and very often make my mind. With 2 decades of experience, it’s almost always successful. So, I often use this strategy as a main decision driver in the process…
An e-commerce business/venture that inspires me most is… Alibaba… Amazed to see all the direction they go…
An e-commerce (or related) website that I read most often is… Twitter. Too be honest, I’m trolling a lot too on Twitter. Especially about Football. But at the same time, I’ve built very optimized lists to follow topics that matter for me… So, I’m following a lot of info on ecommerce in Europe, US or even Asia in real-time.
My favourite online shop is… AliExpress. Pushed by my daughters and as a fan of electronic gadgets, it’s really… Aladdin’s Cave. Could spend hours browsing… and this is my most impulsive buying place. Looking at products and categories on the app, you really realize how much China is still really the “factory of the world”. By the way, from an insider’s point of view, the app is really a state-of-the-art tool in converting efficiently.
I can’t imagine my work without… multiple screens to follow my social networks feeds and to interact on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn during the day… And regularly using Xing or WeChat. By the way, the direct messages and chats are one of my most efficient and frequently used channels to share with my network and clients.
To motivate myself, I… I’m just reminding myself that I’m happy to do what I choose to do… So, I never really need to motivate myself…
The advice I would give to my younger self is… if you have an idea which seems good, just push forward and as hard as you can!
Follow Nenad Cetkovic @:
Twitter: @nenadcetkovic
LinkedIn: cetkovic
Website: lengow.com
