As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of January, 2019, the Zaprešić bakery Dubravica has been operating since 1961 and is among the six largest in the Croatian bakery industry, with revenues exceeding 120 million kuna.
Given the steady growth in revenue and the demanding bakery product market, they have opted for a business step in the direction of modernisation to strengthen their position and become even more competitive.
Namely, in all Dubravica bakeries, customers can pay using bank cards and even via the Dubravica mobile application (app). When it comes to paying with a bank card, Dubravica will take Mastercard, Maestro and Visa cards, and their mobile application, made with the aim of replacing Dubravica's prepaid and loyalty cards, offers the possibility of paying without having to go to the location itself, reviewing the product selection and seeing if there are any deals on offer, and is available on both Google Play and on the App Store.
This Croatian bakery points out that the application also serves as an integrated map with the help of which users have the opportunity to locate their nearest Dubravica bakery. Maja Raca, Dubravica's retail manager, explained why they introduced these technological options. "Listening to the market and the needs of our customers, introducing card payments and mobile applications was a logical step in business. However, one of the most important reasons for introducing card payments was our desire to simplify the purchasing process for our customers at our locations.''
For a long time, Dubravica has followed the trends in payment transactions both in the Republic of Croatia and on the European market.
"During the period from 2008 to 2015, the number of payment transactions increased from 59 to 78 per person per year. On the other hand, developed western markets have already reached the threshold of 100 POS transactions per person per year. With the development of infrastructure and better acceptance for users, Croatia is expected to follow the trend of non-cash payment. So, we made the decision to introduce new ways of payment. We expect that in about two years, about ten percent of our retail transactions will be non-cash," Raca says.
"We're constantly trying to reflect on the needs of the market, diet trends, and follow the foreign markets. In that way, our customers have accepted salads very well as our new product group which we introduced three years ago, and their loyalty is constantly rewarded with seasonal flavours,'' Raca continued. Dubravica's ingredients are supplied by local producers.
"If circumstances permit, we'll always choose domestic suppliers," Raca noted.
''Over the last ten years, great progress has been made in the industry. Before, people went to the bakery for bread and baked goods, today you can buy freshly prepared sandwiches, pizzas or salads. The choice is really great, and in our rich assortment we have over 100 bakery products, we also sell coffee, dairy products and juices with them. In addition, the transformation and modernisation of the industry is also visible through the interior decoration that follows the highest standards of the world,'' added Raca.
Dubravica is continuing to plan on investing in their retail and network expansion, of which there are currently 35 bakeries, which will lead to very welcome additional employment.
"Regarding product innovation, we will follow the market and strive to meet the customer's changing wishes day by day," concluded Raca.
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Click here for the original article by Lucija Spiljak for Poslovni Dnevnik
