In 2007, while working at the family company, Süzer Holding, one day, the current CEO, Sami Bey, informed us that the son of a friend of my father’s was going to present a project. Three days later, Ergi Şener was waiting for us in the meeting room to give the presentation.
Frankly, I don’t like this kind of familiarity, but I try my best not to be biased. This young friend, a student at Sabancı University, gave a wonderful presentation. He managed to excite me with his presentation on card technologies at the time.
I, too, would occasionally say within the holding company that paper money would be eliminated and everything would be digitalized. When the subject came up in the early 2000s, I was pleased to see a fragment of the same topic I’d raised in the early 2000s. In my report to the holding company, I stated that I was very fond of this business model but that we needed to be confident in the technology (i.e., software). In short, I said, let’s do this and start the digitalization revolution as a holding company.
One day, definitely…
Back then, the holding company’s priorities were different. My family company, struggling to survive the banking crisis and struggling to survive, was naturally uninterested in new projects. Despite my verbal insistence several times, “Let’s do this,” based on my report, the decision was made not to proceed with the project.
During my final conversations with our young friend Ergi at the time, I said, “Due to our own circumstances, the project wasn’t accepted; we need to put it aside for now.” I added, “We will definitely do business with you one day.”
By 2013, however, conditions had changed in every way. Two years had passed since I left the holding company, and I had made significant progress in the renewable energy sector. At the time, while I wasn’t even thinking about it, my path crossed with Moka at the Keiretsu Forum. I had previously written a detailed article on this subject. You can read it at http://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/mokadan-bonbona-rotadan-sasmayan-manevralar. In December 2013, after listening to his Moka presentation at the Keiretsu Forum, I called Ergi again. Years later, when I heard his voice on the phone, I found not just a young university student, but a young man who knew what he wanted to do and was confidently advancing in his career. After careers at Turkcell and Mastercard, he now aspired to start his own business. We revisited our conversations from 2007.
At Moka, which I co-founded with Seyfi Erol and Levent İlhaner, we couldn’t quite nail down the model we wanted at first. However, after initial business model confusion, the system fell into place, and Moka began to achieve success.
A brand that adds flavor to technology
As things progressed at Moka, I kept in touch with Ergi. He recommended two friends to me about an analytics company, one of the few topics we discussed. He brought me together with them. After I had an idea for analytics, I founded Bonbon Tech with two of Ergi’s friends, İrem Korkmaz and Onur Işık, in August last year.
I named the company. I was looking for a name that would be both easily uttered internationally and had a positive energy that would be memorable. One night, I locked myself in the house and focused solely on this project. By the end of the night, I had come up with the name Bonbon. I told the friends we were starting the company with that I had found the name and wrote, ‘Let it be Bonbon.’ Everyone loved it. We named it ‘Bonbon Tech.’ I sent a series of sample drawings, specifically depicting lollipops and other candy designs, to illustrate what the logo would look like. True to the main idea of these drawings, İrem commissioned her designer friend to design the logo. The result was a delightful combination of name and logo.
Bonbon’s logo
Following these works, Ergi joined us as General Manager at the beginning of this year.
A picture we took with Bonbon’s partners. From left to right: Onur Işık, Ergi Şener, Serhan Süzer, İrem Korkmaz
This is Bonbon’s founding story. Let me tell you what Bonbon Teknoloji Inc. (Bonbon Tech for short), the analytics company we founded, does:
Bonbon Technology
About Bonbon Technology
Bonbon Technology is a next-generation technology company developing IoT-focused analytics solutions. The company’s founders’ combined global corporate experience with startup experience sets Bonbon Technology apart in the Turkish startup ecosystem. Bonbon Technology is advancing its goal of becoming a global brand by expanding its innovative solutions internationally.
Bonbon Technology’s management team consists of Ergi Şener (CEO), Onur Işık (CMO), and İrem Korkmaz (CTO) (all three of whom are also co-founders). In addition to my investor status, I also provide support in strategy, business development, and management as a founding partner. In less than a year since its founding, Bonbon Teknoloji has successfully established Türkiye’s most comprehensive cloud-based, IoT-based analytics network. Today, with its BonAir product, it serves 42 customers in over 400 locations with over 1,500 BonAir sensors. Bonbon Teknoloji also provides services in 12 other countries beyond Türkiye.
BonAir: Analytics+
What is BonAir?
BonAir is an advanced analytics solution designed to empower businesses by analyzing customer behavior, expectations, and experience. Unlike established analytics solutions, Bonbon Technology’s predictive analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) integrations, and personalized reporting features guide users to take the right action at the right time, providing an invisible competitive advantage. It’s also known as “Analytics+.”
BonAir performs its general analytics using data collected through IoT sensors, also designed by Bonbon Tech and currently in the patent application process. Thanks to BonAir’s comprehensive analytics platform, all the data, statistics, and intelligent analyses that will increase your business’ profitability and customer satisfaction are at your fingertips, ready for action.
Thanks to special BonAir sensors installed in stores, BonAir collects customer data and provides detailed predictive analysis, produces reports that reveal and understand expectations, and can deliver personalized promotions at the right time and place. Based on data such as customer journeys, visit frequency, and in-store circulation, BonAir supports customer loyalty and potential customer segmentation, and allows for the close monitoring and evaluation of employee performance.
How does it work?
Data Collection: BonAir sensors are positioned at designated locations of partner businesses after the Bonbon Tech team has surveyed the location. One of BonAir’s most significant features is that no action is required from customers. BonAir doesn’t require any prerequisites for data collection, such as installing a mobile app, checking if a feature is active (which can be quite difficult to find) in the phone’s settings, turning on Bluetooth, or connecting to Wi-Fi. Customers simply need Wi-Fi access on their smartphones. (Research shows that Wi-Fi access is consistently close to 80%, especially among young professionals, students, and workers, who hold a significant role in the economy. Global developments such as technology giants like Google and Facebook offering free Wi-Fi from space, and New York City providing free Wi-Fi to all public transportation and waiting areas, are steadily increasing the percentage of Wi-Fi access.) Beacon and GPS capabilities are also optionally available on BonAir sensors (the latest versions of these sensors, which are continuously being developed during the R&D process, have added various sensor capabilities such as heat, pressure, and light).
Data Processing: Data collected through BonAir sensors is classified and analyzed in detail using specialized analysis and algorithms developed by Bonbon Tech, based on a wide range of behavioral data.
Reporting: BonAir’s user-friendly dashboard generates personalized reports tailored to your needs.
Interaction: BonAir SDKs are integrated into iOS and Android mobile applications for businesses that have a mobile app or utilize a partnered mobile app, enabling them to communicate with customers at the right time, in the right location, and with personalized messages tailored to their profile. Optional mobile applications can also be developed for businesses by Bonbon Tech.
Product Features
BonAir, an “Analytics+” solution that stands out from its peers with its innovative features, offers businesses the following advantages (these features are not static; they are constantly being developed, and BonAir’s application areas are constantly diversifying and expanding):
Device-Independent Passive Data Collection: Detailed analysis of all customers with Wi-Fi access, regardless of the brand and model of their mobile device, is performed anonymously using BonAir sensors positioned in stores.
Application-Independent: Location and customer paths, visit frequency, frequently visited aisles, and profile and behavioral information based on customer visits can be reported anonymously without the need for any additional mobile application.
Real-Time Analysis and User-Friendly Control Panel: A control panel designed with optimal experience in mind, analyzing customer movements in real time, providing comparisons during campaign periods or specific time intervals, and monitoring a real-time heat map, is provided to participating businesses with a password. The control panel can be customized based on brand needs and user definitions, and detailed content can be viewed by whom, based on authorization.
Heat Map: Real-time heat maps allow for reporting and interpreting in-store visitor density based on factors such as day, time, campaign period, and window display changes.
Guidance is provided based on store interior design. Dynamic Data Management: A flexible platform is provided where brand representatives can easily dynamically modify query criteria to perform detailed analyses of data available to brands in the database.
Remote Sensor Management: Control panels that can be installed on various devices enable remote management and monitoring of sensors and alert relevant personnel in the event of connection issues.
Personnel Tracking: Employee ID cards are digitized using the BonAir system, providing reports integrated with HR processes on employee check-in and check-out times and productivity.
Segmentation: A detailed, needs-based segmentation structure is created using data such as customer behavior, device used, and frequency of visits and spending.
Real-Time and One-to-One Marketing: Integration with mobile applications enables profile-based, personalized messaging with customers at the right time and place (of course, after first obtaining customer consent through the mobile application).
Wi-Fi Service for Customers: If desired, Wi-Fi service can be provided to customers at specific locations where BonAir sensors are installed.
Offline Backup: BonAir also provides a system that prevents data loss due to internet interruptions or connection problems in the environments where sensors are located. This ensures the most accurate analysis with all data without data loss.
Some of BonAir’s benefits:
– Displaying real-time customer numbers
– Percentage sharing of passersby, average store visits, and the purchase rates of customers entering the store
– Reporting of average time spent in the store, busiest days, and hours
– Analyze store density with real-time heat maps
– Display of most preferred routes as footprints
– Set realistic sales targets for in-store subsections or aisles
– Match customer density with employee locations using heat maps, and allocate staff based on density and interest
– Manage staff based on store density
– Perform the most accurate comparison and bonus calculations across chain stores based on data such as traffic, density, and customer frequency
– Digitizing the staff entry and exit system
– Sending notifications to store managers during busy times to ensure control
– Redirecting additional cash registers when the checkout is busy
– Notifying managers when stores are overcrowded
– Inventory Tracking
– Creating location-specific campaigns and analyzing their impact
– Providing indoor navigation for large areas through mobile app integration
– Delivering personalized messages based on location through mobile app integration
– Analyzing which companies brands should collaborate with in their B2B agreements or campaigns
– Analyzing companies to identify new locations or list inefficient branches
Benefits provided by integration with our business partners’ systems
Bonbon Technology has strategic partnerships with major companies such as IBM and Turkcell, and in line with BonAir’s continuous development, integrations are provided with these companies’ globally recognized ‘global best practices’ solutions. BonAir integrates with IBM’s IoT platform, utilizes Bluemix as a cloud solution, receives AI-driven analysis support from Watson, the world’s largest artificial intelligence platform, and provides more advanced and targeted analysis using IBM’s own data, such as real-time weather, traffic, and demographic data. Bonbon ensures data security in a cloud-based environment, and anonymized data is stored in Amazon.
Examples of benefits achieved through various integrations with BonAir
– In Istanbul, prior to the recent heavy rainfall beyond seasonal norms, retail customers were warned a week in advance of the expected rainfall and advised to place umbrellas in store windows. As a result, a business saw a 150% increase in umbrella sales.
– A retail chain analyzed in-store customer behavior, resulting in changes to display windows and a sustained increase in turnover.
– A retail company analyzed in-store customer behavior, resulting in a 50% increase in store time spent in the store.
– A hospital saw a significant increase in customer satisfaction after sending a satisfaction survey to patients returning from a doctor’s appointment via an app.
– A detailed analysis of the vehicles customers were interested in in an automotive company’s showrooms, revealing a significant increase in customer satisfaction.
Bonbon Tech’s horizons at the beginning of the journey
I’ve tried to explain what we do technically and the areas where the technology we develop is used. Finally, I’d like to briefly summarize Bonbon Tech’s potential. We’re talking about technology that can significantly contribute to security by integrating with cameras, as well as in various sectors such as retail, healthcare, automotive, tourism, and industry. Bonbon technology, one of the first representatives of Big Data and IoT, is also attracting significant interest internationally. Our goal is to make Bonbon an international company.
I’ve stated many times before that I have a personal goal of creating a truly international brand from Türkiye. As the youngest sibling of EkoRE in renewable energy, Moka in fintech, and TİDER in NGOs, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bonbon achieves the same success. I have confidence in our vision, the technology we’ve developed, and our team.
Stay tuned for our work. Organizations that will be a source of pride for Türkiye are emerging one by one…
Tag: business world
