Merchants Seek Partners Who Connect Technology and Business

The internet in Croatia was in its early stages in 2011, websites were created simply, and no one cared about user experience. There was also little thought given to online stores, as there were only a few, and the global economic crisis was still tightening its grip on the Croatian market.

However, four aspiring founders of the Varaždin-based Marker decided to test their abilities in the existing environment despite everything. Without a business plan and investors, but with knowledge, curiosity, and the courage to go in a direction that almost no one recognized at the time, colleagues Ivica Kruhek, Domagoj Markanović, Ivan Hobor, and Mile Lazar decided to establish a company for creating online stores, which has since become the most awarded e-commerce agency in Croatia.

First Job in – Monaco

Along with websites and stores, Marker offered the creation of virtual tours, and the business started rolling precisely because of them. Immediately after the company was founded, an offer came in, no less than from the Monaco Tourist Board, to create a virtual tour of the principality. The founders still find such a turn of events incredible. They actually perceive it as an anecdote that always brings smiles when they recount it.

– We were kids with a few pieces of equipment, but with great enthusiasm. We packed up and set off. We filmed, completed the job, and returned home with experience, a story, and, importantly, our first income. That project in Monaco was proof that an idea can become a reality and the moment we realized we wanted to do something long-term, something that brings real results to clients. Soon we decided to focus on developing online stores, but since the existing solutions did not offer enough flexibility and quality user experience, Marker decided from the start to take the harder path and develop its own platform.

We literally studied everything that was available at the time, from open-source systems to commercial solutions, and took the best from each. Our colleagues were top-notch programmers, so it was not difficult for us to develop our own software. This gave us complete freedom to build things the way we thought they should look. Alongside the technical part, we began to explore what fascinated us the most at the time – the psychology of online shopping. While most were talking about design, whether it was beautiful or not, we analyzed what motivates a customer to click on something, how much information they need to gain trust, and how the order of elements on the page affects the purchasing decision – describes Kruhek.

He says that the customer does not actually think about technology, but wants everything to be clear, fast, and simple. At Marker, they wanted to create a system that looks intuitive, but is extremely complex in the background because every decision, every word, and every color has a purpose. He emphasizes that this combination of technical knowledge and understanding of human behavior has become Marker’s recognizable philosophy, which creates a logical system for the customer, but smart and effective for the merchant.

Laying the Foundations

– Thus, in the early years, we laid the foundations of an approach that would later define the entire e-commerce scene in Croatia. As the market matured, Marker grew. After several years of research, testing, and learning, the company became known for solutions that delivered results, not just aesthetic impressions. Since 2016, we have increasingly focused on complex e-commerce projects and clients who want a serious approach to digital sales. We realized that merchants do not just want an online store; they want a partner who understands how technology connects with business processes.

We began to design integrations with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, customer relationship management (CRM), product information management (PIM), inventory and warehouse systems, all to ensure that the customer has timely access to all information and an intuitive online shopping experience – explains Kruhek.

Many Awards

For its online store solutions, Marker has won over seventy awards, many of which are international, adds Kruhek. Their projects have been repeatedly recognized as the best in their fields, and several of their online stores have won the title of ‘Webshop of the Year’ in Croatia. The project for the Slovenian Big Bang, he says, earned them the award for the best online store in the Adriatic region, and they are particularly pleased with the recognition for the best regional e-commerce platform, which confirms the strength of their own software solution.

– We collaborate with the most demanding clients in Croatia and the region who want to skip several development steps and immediately enter serious e-commerce. That is why we are particularly pleased that the awards come from different organizers from different countries and with different criteria. We are most delighted when we see that a client, after going through the process with us, never thinks about sales in the same way again. That is the moment when you know you have done a good job.

Fifteen years after its founding, Marker has become much more than a digital agency. Today, it is a system that connects technology, knowledge, analytics, and understanding of customers into a unique work philosophy, and our solutions power some of the most successful online stores in the region. We never wanted to be the biggest, but we always wanted to be the best at what we do. It is important to us that every store we create sells, but also that we leave behind a trace, that is, a more organized process, an educated client, and a better understanding of digital sales – emphasizes Kruhek.

From its beginnings, they have also been involved in educating the market. They have held hundreds of lectures, from universities and business schools to conferences and specialized workshops, explaining what e-commerce is and what it can be.

What Others Don’t Know

Kruhek says that in 2024, they consciously slowed down the pace and stabilized the business, which brought lower revenue but greater profitability. Last year, they achieved revenues of 1.42 million euros, which is a decrease of 16.24 percent compared to the previous year, and net profit in the same period fell by 42.92 percent to 116,379 euros.

But 2025 brings a new momentum for Marker as Kruhek, through optimizing internal processes, better organization, and careful resource management, achieved growth in profit and productivity. However, he believes that Marker does not measure success solely by revenue but also by the impact it has on the e-commerce community.

– Marker quickly built a reputation as a company that does not do half-hearted jobs. Our online stores were fast, stable, and intuitive, but behind that simplicity lay a serious strategy. Clients often told us that their sales results improved simply by switching to our system, which is not a coincidence. Every component of the webshop was truly thought out and had its purpose.

In working with merchants, we early on began to focus on optimizing the user experience. We measured how many clicks it takes for a customer to reach a product, how the arrangement of elements affects trust, and how colors and tone of communication shape purchasing decisions. The webshop must be fast, clear, secure, but also emotionally aligned with the brand. People do not just buy a product but also an experience. If everything is aligned with the merchant’s business processes, the result will not be lacking.

As projects increased, they also became more complex, and we became known for ‘solving what others do not know.’ It is precisely these more complex solutions, with more interconnected systems, that have become our trademark – states Kruhek.

Working with Big Players

One of the projects that best showcased Marker’s approach is the one with the Slovenian Big Bang, the leading retail chain for electronics. The collaboration began, he continues, after Big Bang took over an investment fund that initiated a complete transformation of the company with an emphasis on digitalization and a plan for regional expansion.

At the beginning of the collaboration, neither Big Bang nor Marker had all the processes ready for the development of a full omnichannel solution, but, in Kruhek’s opinion, a shared vision connected the two teams.

– We developed an omnichannel system in which, regardless of whether the customer is buying online or in a traditional store, the same sales process is in the background. This meant unified inventory, prices, and discounts, as well as centralized management of customer data. The system enabled Big Bang to provide customers with a consistent experience across all channels, whether they pick up the product in-store or order from another country. The next phase of the project was to build a marketplace platform that today has over 1.6 million products and brings together numerous partners.

Thus, Big Bang became a leader in digital retail in the region and proof that strategic partnership, vision, and technology can change the way the industry operates. This company is just one of many projects that confirmed Marker’s ability to work with large systems. Among their well-known clients are Fabuspot.com, Senzacionalno (Orbico), Zaks, Argentum, bio&bio, Centar tehnike, Tvornica zdrave hrane, as well as many other leading retailers from Croatia and the neighborhood – lists Kruhek.

After that, awards began to arrive, first domestic, then international. For Kruhek, this was recognition that what they do has broader significance for clients and the entire market. He says they have always stated that they do not work to win awards, but that each of them confirms that their way of thinking makes sense.

Important Lessons

By 2020, Marker was creating about thirty online stores a year, which was a respectable number of projects for a team of its size, but a change occurred during the corona crisis. At that time, clients who had considered online stores a secondary channel suddenly began to see them as the only means of survival.

– In one week, more than a hundred existing clients contacted us, people who had not sought upgrades for years. Many of our clients then realized for the first time that an online store is not just an addition but the heart of their business. When their physical store was closed, the webshop became the only source of income. It was an extremely intense phase, but also a period in which Marker built resilience.

The corona crisis forced us to reassess our own processes; we realized where we were vulnerable, but also how much we can achieve when we are aligned. We learned the lesson about the importance of flexibility and speed of decision-making. As in any crisis, those who were ready to adapt grew. During that period, Marker increased its number of employees by more than thirty percent and helped dozens of companies digitize their business, integrate new systems, and learn to think online – notes Kruhek.

During that period, Marker also redefined its priorities, deciding to focus the majority of resources on existing partners instead of new projects and to fully dedicate itself to e-commerce. This allowed them to become specialists in large, complex e-commerce-related projects.

Expanding to the Neighborhood

Marker’s solutions often connect multiple systems today, namely ERP, CRM, PIM, warehouse, loyalty programs, or marketing tools, into one functional whole. However, according to Kruhek, there are no quick solutions at Marker, and when a company engages them, it does not just get a webshop but also a digital transformation.

Kruhek helps clients change their way of thinking, processes, and habits, always reminding them that the webshop will only work if their organization works properly. For this reason, he testifies that the results are usually better than clients expect.

However, for Kruhek, Marker’s development shows that success does not come from speed but from consistency, curiosity, learning, and a desire for progress. This is confirmed by their development.

– Our greatest value is our people, currently twenty-five of us and those on the other side of the screen. Clients who trust, collaborators who grow, customers who return. Technology is just there to connect all of this. Therefore, we continue to invest in the development of new technologies and products, especially those involving artificial intelligence and automation of business processes.

In addition to technical development, Marker is increasingly positioning itself as a consulting partner, helping merchants make strategic decisions about digital transformation, organization of sales channels, and optimization of user experience. After successful collaborations in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are increasingly collaborating with partners from Serbia and other countries in the region. We are also developing internal systems and methodologies that allow scaling of business without compromising quality – announces Kruhek.

In the coming years, he intends to further strengthen the presence in the region, but not as a company that only delivers online stores, but also as a partner who understands how digital commerce works from technology to business strategy. He believes that Marker enters a new phase mature, organized, and stable, as it has years of investment, learning, and changes behind it, and opportunities brought by artificial intelligence, expansion, and further development of omnichannel solutions ahead of it.

– In a rapidly changing world, Marker shows that stability is not built by size, but by consistency and quality. E-commerce is also changing day by day, but one thing will never change: the customer expects everything to be simple, fast, and meaningful. Our job is to ensure that behind that simplicity, there is still a system that works flawlessly – asserts Kruhek.