Photography by: Dilian Markov
Mr. Radovan Vitosevic is a Regional director Southeast Europe. MYWORLD BULGARIA is part of the international group of myWorld which manages the biggest and leading loyalty program in the world. Under the aegis of that group the company started to operate on the Bulgarian market in early 2018 and offers benefits to buyers, sellers, and also to service providers.
myWorld International Limited: Domicile: London; Open markets: 54; Locations: 57; Employees: 1,000
myWorld Benefit Program Members: 15 million; Partners: 150,000; Sale points: 400,000; Accessibility: 54 countries
Mr. Vitosevic, congratulations on the Business Leader Loyalty Programs 2021 Award! When did myWorld’s business start? What does the company offer?
MYWORLD BULGARIA is part of the international group of myWorld which manages the biggest and leading loyalty program in the world. Under the aegis of that group the company started to operate on the Bulgarian market in early 2018 and offers benefits to buyers, sellers, and also to service providers.
The group’s portfolio has more than 15 million users and more than 150 thousand partners with 400,000 cashback locations in more than 50 markets. myWorld International is domiciled in the financial district of London, UK.
Our official website is myWorld.com, and our offices are situated in Sofia on Bulgaria Blvd., in Landmark Business Center in Hipodruma Residential Estate. In Bulgaria we have more than 300 partner companies and 60,000 members that we are serving every day.
What product categories are the most popular in myWorld?
All services for the members of myWorld are free of charge! And the most up-to date products everyone can use are: Cashback Card, eVoucher, myWorld APP and myWorld Plug-in.
In order that our shopping platform can function we need to have merchants or partners who are looking for more buyers, on the one side, and buyers, on the other. Our system automatically offers our partners to the buyers, and thus we create a Win-Win situation and a non-stop cycle. Buyers receive Cashback and Shopping Points benefits upon each purchase, and merchants attract new and loyal buyers.
The most popular product is our renowned cashback card which serves as a means of identification for obtaining benefits upon the purchase’s registration with the merchant. It is not a means of payment but a means of identification. Please visit HIT Max, try and see for yourself how easily the card works.
In the process of digitalization during the past period I would like to point out that we managed to create mobile applications that are among the most advanced ones on the market: – myWorld Benefits for users and myWorld Partner for partners. It is not only the digital card but also all other products that can be used via those applications, both for companies and for private individuals.
What makes you different in this online business environment?
Our task is to make shopping via the internet easier and more attractive than ever. Online shopping is an easy, fast and practical way in which you can obtain the products and services desired by you at any time, and save time and money along with that.
Shopping at myWorld.com’s online partners has become an unique experience by which you can get a lot of shopping benefits at myWorld’s 150 internet partners: benefits that you cannot get by the regular online shopping. Among our biggest global partners who are also accessible in Bulgaria are, for instance, booking.com and aliexpress.com, and we have a number of local partners, too.
You can have a look at the profiles of our online partners at our website or you can download our myWorld Plug-in that identifies the partners in your search engine and automatically activates the cashback.
In our ecosystem we also have our own online shop: marketplace.myworld.com, with thousands of available product varieties. On the other hand, travelworld.com is our platform for travels where you can book flights and hotels all over the world. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that you can register with your myWorld account user data in the entire ecosystem and automatically get benefits upon every purchase.
This year we launched the new Benefit Lounge in which you can use the shopping points you have collected via myWorld and find more than 1,000 deals and discount offers for online and offline purchases.
What is the team that you work with at the moment?
In every country it is a challenge to build the business infrastructure from the start. We are building our infrastructure in more fundamental pillars: members, merchants, marketers, and employees, and we duplicate it in every new country without any difference in the culture and mentality in the countries where we operate.
On the other hand, myWorld has more than 1,000 employees who are currently working mostly online and are allocated on 6 continents. Our company myWorld 360 is responsible for the service support, IT and product development and is located in Graz, Austria. We are currently engaged in setting up a business center in Skopje which will support the entire Southeastern Europe.
In every country it is a challenge to set up business infrastructure. First, we look for entrepreneurs who want to join us in order to do business with us, and then with their help we create a balance of members and loyalty merchants.
I always say: “A company is not a sheet of paper that we keep in the drawer, people themselves create the company.”
Our asset that we have been investing in for years, the one that gives us a competitive edge, is the fleet of marketers that our system has built and is still building. We cooperate with hundreds of local entrepreneurs who are now well-proven professionals on the world’s markets. We have more than 1,000 field marketers in Bulgaria who work for us and develop our business structure.
What convenience do you offer to your customers?
I would like to point out again that each of our members can register free of charge. We do not have membership fees and subscriptions. At the same time, we provide our users with the opportunity to shop and collect cashback and benefits whenever they shop, both online and offline, without any restrictions, at our partners all over the world, on one hand. They have at their disposal a mobile application by which they do all the shopping in one click and on the go. On the other hand, our company offers companies of any type and capacity the opportunity to advertise themselves and to win new and loyal customers at the same time. In these times of business challenges related to the pandemic for every merchant it is quite precious to extend their circle of customers. In this regard we have developed both standardized packages for small and medium-sized companies and customized solutions for the bigger ones. Ultimately, shopping is a constant process and we are the intermediary in both directions.
What are the main advantages of myWorld over the other competitors in online commerce?
myWorld is not a common shopping platform. We are not merely offering shopping opportunities as most similar platforms in online commerce do. At our company the choice is unlimited and so is the opportunity to save upon every purchase. Where else you can make a reservation in booking.com, save money and use them to buy OMV’s fuel vouchers or sports products from Sport depot? In addition, upon each purchase you will also collect shopping points that you can redeem in exchange for deals at the hairdressers’ in your neighborhood, for example. With myWorld shopping is an experience, an easy and pleasant one at that!
How has online shopping in the country developed during the past year?
If until a couple of years ago the online presence of the business was a matter of wishful thinking today it is a must: moreover, the pandemic is not over yet, and although many restrictions were dropped and consumers have returned to brick-and-mortar shops and their former shopping habits a lot of people will continue to shop via the online channels with priority. Bulgaria is no exception to the global tendencies and it is obvious to everyone that this means growth and digital transformation of the business.
What should customers expect from myWorld in the future? Do you consider offering some innovations, and what are they?
Extending our ecosystem is among our priorities. We want to provide our customers with a wider range of products and services that they can receive via the myWorld platform. Our ecosystem consists of several companies and brands such as: @mediaBox, travelWorld.com, myWorld.com, OneSense, marketplace.myworld.com, 360 Lab, mediaWorld, Child and Family Foundation, Greenfinity Foundation and Lyconet as an external partner.
In order that all those threads in an ecosystem can function an innovation in 2022 will be the application of the artificial intelligence technology where our teams of developers are already preparing an unique experience for our members and partners.
In the first quarter of 2022, we will improve the functionality and attractiveness of the shopping points (SP) in the program for an even easier and more unique experience with us.
We expect that our mobile application myWorld Benefits which receives awards and gains recognition almost every year will get a new, more modern outlook and better functionality. Our IT and product development teams of hundreds of people in Austria and England work non-stop to improve the tools of their customers.
As one of the leading platforms for benefits, cashback and voucher sales in Bulgaria we expect growth and staying on the top as one of the strongest companies in the digital world and online sales.
What is your definition of success?
Perhaps I will give you an unusual answer, something the readers do not expect. I think that today most people associate success with material gains and goal achievement. For them success means: to get recognition, to receive certificates and diplomas, and they see it mostly through the prism of money. As the saying goes, in order to be successful we must be at the right place in the right time, we must be the first, we must have a combination of talent and work, etc., etc., and the common understanding among the majority of people is that we are the most successful when we become rich presuming that thus we get free of any care and will live happily until the end of our lives. But success does not mean achievement! If it did, then why are there so many rich people who are not happy, fulfilled, grateful for what is going on and for what they have achieved? Instead of having material success I can have aggregate success, be in prosperity. I can have successful family relations, a successful marriage, a cozy and calm home, be physically healthy, have a high standard of living, etc. This comprehensive and balanced success in life is quite valuable because we have paid attention to all domains of life. But the truth is that the essence of success is only the feeling and nothing else. To feel good now, at this very moment! This is the real thing! The way we feel determines the level of our success. The harmony of mind, body and spirit is the precondition for our success. Success is not something we have achieved but how we feel and what we have become! From here on all material results will depend on the vibration of our being!
You are quite a busy man, do you have time to rest and what are your preferred destinations?
Living, working and managing simultaneously many countries is a real challenge. It takes real dedication, communicational and organizational abilities to manage all the processes.
I need to plan everything strategically upfront, and in the same time push the operational activities. At the end of every day, I spend time planning the priorities for the next working day in order to be laser-focused on my actions.
I do not necessarily manage my time, I prioritize my tasks and start with the highest priority job necessary to be done.
I go on holiday very rarely, I can say I have been on holiday just a couple of times for the past 10 years. But this does not mean I do not know how to stimulate myself and how to properly use my time.
I often use business routes to visit new places and see new things. Whenever I travel, I try to find a hotel with a gym and a spa center. I train on a regular basis and I want to relax.
The most common destinations, apart from Macedonia and Bulgaria, are: Austria, Germany, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, and other countries from the former Yugoslavia.
Outside the work operations I write a lot. I can boast that my book on personal development, original title “Awakening Consciousness,” is the most sold book in Macedonia, and is currently gaining momentum in other countries not only on the Balkans but globally. It will soon be available for sale in Bulgaria, and currently you can find a copy on the Amazon platform in Paperback, Kindle and audio version.
