03 August 2020, Moscow, Russia. PJSC M.Video (M.Video-Eldorado Group, the Company, or the Group; MOEX: MVID), Russia’s largest consumer electronics retailer by revenue and part of the SAFMAR Group owned by Mikhail Gutseriev, announces the appointment of Alexander Sokolovsky as Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Alexander will head an integrated IT Department at M.Video-Eldorado Group. In this role, he will be responsible for the improvement of the IT platform and the overall IT development of the Company and its two retail brands. The CIO will report directly to Irina Ivanova, the Group’s Chief Operating Officer, and will be in charge of the development and implementation of the IT strategy and architecture advancements to strengthen the Company’s leadership in the online market. In addition, he will supervise the automation of internal processes, the application of best customer service practices and the creation of mobile products. He will also control the Company’s switch to smart data processing, and the use of machine learning in data analytics, as well as managing startups and internal innovations.
“In accordance with its ONE RETAIL strategy, M.Video-Eldorado Group seeks to become a technology-driven company with a large part of decision-making based on data analysis, automated routine operations, and unique deeply personalised customer service. Fully leveraging an effective and extensive retail model, we are building a digital platform to combine all online and offline processes in a single ecosystem easily accessible via mobile, both for customers and shop assistants. Over the past six months, we have switched all our processes online and laid the foundation for a new IT platform. I am sure that with Alexander’s vast experience and expertise, our IT team will lead the implementation of the ONE RETAIL model, helping the Company make a major breakthrough in this area”, said Irina Ivanova, Chief Operating Officer of M.Video-Eldorado Group.
Before joining M.Video-Eldorado, Alexander was Managing Director at SberDevices (part of Sberbank ecosystem). He graduated from the Samara State Aerospace University in 2002 with a degree in Automated Data Processing and Management Systems and has over 20 years of experience in IT, including digital transformation, microservice architecture and big data platforms. He has held management positions in industry-leading companies in Russia (Sberbank, Leroy Merlin, Russian Direct Investment Fund, EPAM Systems), France and Kazakhstan.