In our partner spotlight, our partners have their say! We want to give you a first-hand insight into our partnerships and convince you of the benefits.
Today’s interview partner is Dr. Oliver Charles, Chief Solutions Officer (CSO) and member of the management board at OXID eSales.
What exactly is it that our partner OXID eSales does, and how do you benefit from the cooperation between trbo and OXID eSales? Learn more in today’s blog post.
1. First of all, tell us something about yourself and what you do at OXID eSales?
I am 38 years old, married, grew up in a small cozy village near the Black Forest and I currently live in the beautiful Kaiserstuhl. I have studied computer science, completed my MBA part-time in Hamburg and Boston (USA), earned my PhD in England, plus, I am a guest lecturer at several colleges and universities in Germany and abroad. In my free time, I enjoy traveling our wonderful earth.
My professional career led me from software development, via consulting and project management, ultimately to corporate management. My current role as Chief Solutions Officer of OXID is very versatile and combines areas such as portfolio management, business development, strategic alliances, sales, intrapreneurship, enterprise agility, business model innovation, and agile product management – with all the necessary skills. Simply put, it’s about identifying relevant solutions and trends in the market on different levels and leveraging them on the OXID side as well as within the OXID ecosystem for the benefit of our customers. Thus, a continuous two-way process between the market or ecosystem and OXID is created, generating network effects and synergies, which in turn leads to strong added value for our customers.
2. What distinguishes OXID eSales from other shop systems, and what are your strengths?
Our “sweet spot” are medium-sized companies whose system landscapes, processes and requirements in terms of e-commerce show an increased degree of complexity or individualization. In this regard, we offer a very flexible and easily adaptable, expandable and economical commerce platform with our OXID eShop as its core. On the basis of this platform, our partners can implement modular functional extensions or even entire solutions for a wide range of customer segments, verticals, and industries. An intensive regular exchange with as well as a close and personal relationship to our partners and customers is an extremely essential aspect to continuously and sustainably consider their needs in our developments.
3. What are your objectives?
You might say that we do everything we can to ensure that our customers play in the Premier League in digital sales. This requires great solutions which OXID creates together with its partners – OXID provides the platform, our partners create the solution for the customers accordingly. Therefore, it is essential that we provide our numerous partners with the best possible commerce platform, which in turn benefits our customers.
4. Spielt trbo eine Rolle beim Erreichen eurer Ziele?
Definitely – trbo’s services for creating personalized user experiences are an important part of the overall solution for many e-commerce companies from different segments and are also highly appreciated by our solution partners in the context of solution development.
5. What led you to enter into a partnership with trbo?
Through the involvement and close exchange with our partners and customers, we constantly receive feedback from the market. The partnership between OXID and trbo is the result of such an impulse from our ecosystem. In addition to a strong product, which is already being used by many well-known customers, and a great team, we were also impressed by trbo’s high drive for innovation and strong service orientation.
6. How does the partnership with trbo work exactly? How do OXID eSales and trbo interact?
On a personal level, OXID incl. the ecosystem and trbo work closely together in a trusting relationship to create added value for our joint customers. On a technical level, there is a plug-in, i.e., an interface between the OXID commerce platform and trbo’s onsite personalization platform, which combines personalization, recommendations, A/B & multivariant tests with the functions of the online shop. This, in particular, enables e-commerce companies to address their users individually and personally in real time.
7. What piece of advice would you give to someone who is looking for the right partner?
In my experience, the basis of a good and successful business partnership is complementary services and shared target customers. Of course, it should also be a good match on a personal level. However, without strong products and services that complement or match each other, the creation of synergies and sustainable joint success is rarely possible.
8. If you could step into the role of another (well-known) personality for one day, who would it be?
Not a real personality, but a well-known one: Homer Simpson! Living one day with the ease of Homer would certainly be a positive and decelerating experience in today’s stressful world.
9. What is your advice for all businesses that want to get started in e-commerce?
E-commerce offers an incredible number of benefits, but it is also multi-layered, complex and involves ongoing work. Companies should always be aware of this when planning their e-commerce activities.
Über unseren (Interview-) Partner
Chief Solutions Officer (CSO) and member of the management board at OXID eSales
Dr. Oliver Charles has been helping to shape the digitalization of companies for almost 15 years – currently as Chief Solutions Officer and member of the executive board at the German e-commerce platform provider OXID eSales.
After studying computer science, he completed his MBA in Hamburg and Boston and then earned his doctorate in England in the field of strategic corporate development and business model innovation. He is also active at national and international level as a guest lecturer at numerous colleges and universities as well as a peer reviewer of journal and conference papers.