Advisory Council

Marc Ebel is a Professor of Marketing and E-Commerce at IU International University in Munich. Prior to this, he worked for over 20 years in corporate consulting and digital companies, including 16 years in management at Amazon Germany. During his time at Amazon, he led numerous projects and functions such as Category Development & Management, Purchasing & Partner Management, and built the urban delivery services Amazon Prime Now as well as the fresh food division with Amazon Fresh. He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering and an MBA, having studied in Germany, the USA, and Singapore. He earned his PhD on the topic of "Digital Innovations" from the University of South Wales in the UK.

We can expect a further increase in digitalization in the German grocery retail sector. smhaggle's business model allows offline customers to be introduced to digital channels, and also offers providers – both offline and online – a solid foundation for data-driven decision-making and the further development of their own offerings.

Jan Gerlach has over 20 years of experience in leadership positions in the retail and technology sectors. As a manager with a proven track record in building businesses and business units, as well as leading teams, he combines commercial expertise with technological competence. Most recently, he served as Director of Procurement for FMCG at Flaschenpost SE, where he established the food division and was responsible for purchasing and online category management. Prior to that, he was the Commercial Director at Knuspr.de, part of the founding team. Jan Gerlach also served as CEO of Peakwork AG, an innovative tech company focused on software solutions for the tourism industry. His strong leadership is evident in his ability to motivate and lead diverse teams in both B2B and B2C environments. With a degree in Business Administration from WHU, as well as studies at universities in France and the USA, and experience at renowned companies like OC&C Strategy Consultants and Metro Cash & Carry, Jan Gerlach possesses deep knowledge in the areas of strategy, procurement, and business development. His interests in travel, fitness, and his large family, which includes five children, round out his profile and showcase his multifaceted personality.

During my time at Knuspr.de and Flaschenpost.de, I gained extensive insights into the potential of trade marketing in online food retail. It enables the industry to specifically target individual customers – a marketing segmentation that has been nearly impossible to achieve in brick-and-mortar retail. Thanks to the data transparency created by smhaggle, it is now also possible to efficiently address consumer groups in real time in the physical retail sector. This new dimension of audience targeting makes smhaggle an extremely attractive marketing partner for the industry.

Dr. Thomas L. Hager is Vice President Global Financial Services at Lenovo where he is leading the transformation of a product-based business to a product, solutions and services globally integrated enterprise in the industry vertical Financial Services. Prior to joining Lenovo, Thomas made his career at IBM as an accomplished senior executive where he advised international clients on business and business model transformation in response to wide industry and regulatory changes. Thomas also consulted mid-market clients across several industries at a time when the first wave of digitization started to emerge during the dot.com area. He was educated in the United States and hold a Ph.D in Rhetoric and Professional Communication with an emphasis on Computer Science. His early research focused on the effects of the World Wide Web and the impact of digitization on business development and change. Originally from Germany, Thomas has worked and lead teams in Europe, Asia and USA. In his spare time, he renovates a 14th century house in France, an endeavour that began 30 years ago and continues.

Digitization and transparency will change business as we know it. Business leaders are finding new ways of creating value for consumers and consumers will flock toward digital helpers like smhaggle to capture the economic value. Smhaggle’s digital convenience will bridge the physical and the digital and revolutionize the grocery business.

Matthias Hartman is CEO of the Techem GmbH, a digital energy service provider for the real estate industry, which is active in 20 different countries. The 55 year old is known as a proven expert in strategies and has comprehensive experiences in the sectors of technology and digitalization. His career phases includes IBM where he has been active in different leading positions. At last he was general manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. From 2011 until 2016 he has been chairman oft he GfK SE a leading company in the field of market research which is listed at the stock exchange market and is active in 100 countries.

There is hardly any segment without a price transpareny available for consumers. The grocery retail segment is one of the last ones there is.

Stefan Kaczmarek did his MBA at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz after passing his apprenticeship for a communication electrician. He is a successfull serial entrepreneur. The father of two daughters invented eatable modelling clay and founded the 123 Nährmittel GmbH. For his entrpreneurial activities Mr. Kaczmarek has been honored with numerous awards such as the „Hessische Gründerpreis“ (2008), the „Toy of the year Award“ in Australia (2010) and the „Hobby Award“ in Japan in 2011.

Imagine: You know exactly where to find which products at the best price before going to the supermarket. All of that without goign through any leaflets… exactly that is smhaggle!

Dr. Markus J. Krechting studied at the University of Münster and did his doctorate in international marketing at the University of Hamburg. He worked for several years in the marketing department of the Otto Group. After that he was managing director of a business unit of TellSell Consulting before being the director of "Neue Medien" at Neckermann in 2001, where he later became CEO of Neckermann Switzerland. In 2007 he founded CODE-No.com which he is leading as its CEO. He is author of various publications and furthermore he is an active member of jury for cosniderable multi channel events such as the Deutsche Mutlimedia Award, Berlin and the Online-Star Award, Munich.

The size and relevance of the grocery retail market are completely underestimated –even though its a matter for all of us every single day!

Dr. Volker Kübler, M.B.A is a global business executive with extensive worldwide leadership experience as an international manager and entrepreneur in emerging markets across multiple industries and regions, including technology, big data, and retail. His background in strategic data optimization, data mining, and artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled applications in public and private sectors. As an expert in international expansion and in building sustainable operations, Dr. Kuebler developed innovative concepts for high growth opportunities. His global focus includes Eastern Europe and Asia, and his excellent network in the Silicon Valley, USA. Currently, Dr. Kuebler is Co-CEO of Intellisophic, a leading technology firm in semantic AI and natural language processing. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a PhD in social sciences of the University of Heidelberg. He has published a research-based book on “Market entry strategies for data-mining firms into Chinese markets” and developed a practical framework on international leadership strategies. Dr. Kübler speaks five languages and has been invited guest-lecturer and expert on leadership strategies in developing markets at top tier universities and institutions, including Berkeley, Harvard, Heidelberg, Jiatong (Shanghai), McMaster (Toronto), Nanyang Technology (Singapur), Stanford and more.

Addressing the competitions customers directly brings a lot of benefits for each and every provider. Being able to do so would‘ve been quite a challenge in the past. smhaggle solves this problem with ease! Die Kunden der Wettbewerber direkt zu adressieren, würde jedem Anbieter einen Marktvorteil verschaffen. Was früher schwer möglich war, ist heute mit smhaggle spielend einfach!

David R. Knower is partner and leader oft he Cerberus Deutschland Beteiligungsberatung GmbH since 2003. Before founding his own international consulting company (1997-2002) he was working for Procter & Gamble for eleven years where he started his career in Germany in 1986. After 9 years of being part of the financing and controlling department, Mr. Knower started to lead Procter & Gamble Germany Fine Fragrances in the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Knower got his two bachelor degrees at the University of Massachussets (Economics, German) and got a Commonwealth scholarship in 1983. Furthermore Mr. Knower spent a year during his studies in Freiburg, Germany in 1981/82. He got his MBA at the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in 1985. Mr. Knower is president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, Global Board Member of the Republicans Overseas, vice president of the Steuben-Schurz Gesellschaft, member of the board of trustees of the „English Theatre“ in Frankfurt and a member of different supervisory boards and advisory boards. Mr. Knower born in 1961 has the American citizienship and lives in Germany. He is married with three kids.

Currently more than 50 million consumers in Germany are collecting points for their purchases on a regular basis. That indicates a high affinity for real added values and attractive offers of more than 50% of german households.

For 30 years Carsten Schaeffer has been working in the travelling industry. His main focus was Lufthansa where he was active in different positions in sales, sales management, pricing and revenue management. The 6 years as directing manager of Miles&More International have tob e highlighted where he was responsible for the build up and expansion of customer data analytics and direct marketing which based on those analytics.

Nowadays customers ecxpect being addressed directly with individualized offers and to receive value for their money at the most convenience. Companies expect a ROI while having a strong customer realtionship. smhaggle meets the expectations of BOTH sides at the same time!

As an investment banker for Sal. Oppenheim and Berenberg Jochen Schmidt has adviced and supported the industries of tech, media and telecommuncation within the DACH-Region for more than 22 years. During this time he successfully he supervised and closed more than 200 corporate finance transactions. Since the beginning of 2017 he supports young companies as an attorney and financial advisor during their growth phases. Furthermore he is active as senior advisor and member of advisory boards of companies within the financial sector.

An increasing transparency makes it even more important to be able to offer the right product at the right time with an attractive pricing. Commodity offers and their providers won‘t stand a chance in the nearest future.

Hans Peter Villis has been working for several companies within the energy sector. He has been managing director of the Städtischen Werke Magdeburg GmbH, part of the board of directors of Gelsenwasser AG, CEO of E.ON Westfalen Weser AG in Paderborn as well as CFO and deputy chairman of E.ON Nordic AB. Since the 1st of October 2007 he was leading the EnBW AG as its CEO for five years. Next to being member of other advisory boards he is chairman of the supervisory board of VfL Bochum.

Nowadays it‘s a daily routine for everyone of us to review and evaluate products, restaurants and hotels. Furthermore, those reviews highly influence our decisions before buying a product or service – to me it comes naturally that we should do the same with groceries we buy!

Sebastian is the VP for Digital & Consulting unit at the Otto Group Holding. He is responsible for group-wide commercial digital products, used by portfolio companies, such as e-com suites, AI applications, the group data pool and backend processes. Furthermore, he runs the internal consulting team, advising group companies on (digital) transformations. Prior to Otto, Sebastian was a partner at Bain & Comp. He founded and led the European Advanced Digital and Product Team and was responsible for the Results Delivery practice in Europe, supporting the implementation of large transformations. His professional career started in Management positions at Unilever. In the board he will focus on customer value proposition/ CX, the commercial product launch and investor management.

smhaggle is a breakthrough: It combines convenience with tangible savings for each consumer. This is unmet yet.