We plan to grow. We have serious projects ahead of us and I am confident that we are going to need a lot of people who will be able to participate in this story that we are ‘writing’ which will result in new services that will facilitate life both for our current and future clients.
“Many of our users, and we have over 800,000 registered users, need a daily service. We have serious plans on how to extend our service range to offer something completely new and innovative in the Serbian mobility market,” says Vuk Guberinić, founder and CEO of CarGo Technologies.
What is an innovative technology company like CarGo working on at the moment? Which projects are you currently implementing? What is your view of the development of e-commerce?
We started developing software for the Mobility and Ridesharing industry five years ago. We have developed our software applications that help people in daily mobility and all of that is closely related to e-commerce. We are aware of global trends and we have been trying to make something similar, adapted to the legal framework here in Serbia, that is sufficiently acceptable to end-users so that they can order a service with the help of the simplest protocol available, with only two clicks. In the meantime, we have become the largest online vendors in terms of the number of transactions.
Our idea is to make a comprehensive analysis of the movement of people around the city with the most precise data of people’s movements and accordingly, of the future subway lines. We would also analyze traffic jams and the flow of people per square kilometre.
Could you tell us more about the new service you are launching, CarGo Butler (CarGo Batler, in the Serbian language)?
CarGo Butler will be everyone’s personal assistant. Butler will, for instance, bring freshly prepared food from a special CarGo kitchen. We have a couple of new concepts that we will launch in the market with one of them being the Cloud Kitchen, all in line with the global trends. We have created a range of digital brands that will represent top-notch food that will be prepared in premium restaurants but at an affordable price.
We also plan to develop a delivery service, as there is great potential in the same-day-delivery of packages, especially express delivery within an hour or two. The idea is that the user can rely on us, that if they buy something online, be it through the CarGo app or in some webshop, our Butler will deliver that to them. Regardless of the situation we all find ourselves in, the launch will be in August. We have already signed several contracts, with our clients eager to start cooperation. We will have the right to promote and escalate the service with many more points of sale and partners as of September.
CarGo Pay is also a new service. What novelties does it bring in terms of payment options?
CarGo Pay will complete our eco-system of products and services. The idea is to offer our customers another payment method or rather a simpler way of sending and receiving money via the CarGo Pay application. Once a user creates an account, they will have a range of services at their disposal. The idea is to make it easier for people to make contactless payments as something that a global trend that comes from the East. China is an excellent example for us as people there can use QR codes for payment.
We want to offer a similar user experience whereby people will use their phones for practically all transactions, both online and offline so that once they put money in that electronic environment, i.e. deposit it in their phone, they will no longer need a wallet. For example, if they buy something online and want to pay by cash on delivery and not by card, then they will pay the CarGo Butler by scanning the code. This is a very advanced technology and an innovative thing in our region.
Money arriving from abroad will be available to the recipient a second after it has been sent thanks to the CarGo Pay app.
Tell us more about your contract with Telenor stipulating free Internet. Will Belgrade become a Smart City?
Yes, it is slowly becoming one. We decided to take that step for two reasons. One of them is connectivity. It is important for us to know what happens to vehicles when they are in traffic and to obtain information about them in real-time, and that is something that this device will help us to do. We will have real-time communication with vehicles in the sense that we will be able to know whether it on or off the road and how fast it is going. We will use all that information. Furthermore, the Internet will be available practically as mobile WiFi in Belgrade for the first time. And the Internet will work, believe it or not. We have established such cooperation with Telenor, and during the promotion campaign, we are going to describe all the characteristics of this service.
You have repeatedly pointed out that people are the most important resource. You work a lot in the CSR. Which CSR project would you like to single out?
We have invested a lot of time and money in CSR which has become an integral part of our business, i.e. to help our community as much as we can. We feel good doing it. I would like to single out the campaign we did with NURDOR last year. We also supported children from lesser developed regions in Serbia. The campaign was organized by the Hilandar Monastery and we were recognized for our participation.
As far as people are concerned, as the main resource for both software development and business development, we need qualified staff. Working with high-quality people who take their job seriously is the best investment in the growth and development of startups. This gives us the motivation to continue.
