A lot can happen in a year.
Just ask Onur Dogay. In late summer 2022 he arrived in Sweden from his native Turkey to take the helm of a complex and evolving procurement environment at Elon Group AB, the Nordic region’s leading voluntary trade chain for home and electronic products. That he joined just a month after a significant merger that cemented the company’s market-leading position was no coincidence. Rather, Dogay was brought on board with a specific mission: use his industry experience and passion for transforming procurement to sustain the company’s market status while spearheading growth in new areas of retail and electronics.
And he hasn’t slowed down since. In little over 12 months, Dogay has overseen a procurement evolution that includes setting a new data strategy that’s aligned with the broader company vision, shifting procurement’s role to be less transactional and more of a strategic business partner, improving communication and partnerships both internally and externally with suppliers, and overseeing the greater use of data and technology to enhance forecasting and planning capabilities.
A glance at Dogay’s CV to date leaves little surprise at his success. He is a seasoned procurement professional, with more than 20 years’ experience in procurement leadership positions working across internationally dispersed teams in Europe. “My background is particularly strong in retail, consumer electronics, telecom, and IT business units,” he explains, “including at Arcelik, one of the world’s largest manufacturing companies, and also for one of the biggest retailers in Europe, MediaMarkt. At the time of the merger in 2022 here at Elon Group, this experience, as well as the good relationships I had with many of the suppliers and brands we work with now, was the perfect match for the company.”
Procurement at Elon Group
In June 2022 Elon Group AB merged with consumer electronics and computer retail brand Electra Gruppen. This move created the leading voluntary specialist retail chain – an association of independent retailers unlike corporate chains – in the Nordic region, and built on Elon’s rich history in the market.
In 2003, Elon and Elkedjan, two voluntary specialty retail chains, joined forces to find synergies and economies of scale without competing in the market. The Group has grown through acquisition and collaboration since and today operates across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland, serving both consumers and businesses with major domestic appliances, mobile phones, lighting, kitchens, home electronics, and indoor climate products. Through efficient logistics, strong local market presence (there are more than 300 Elon stores in Sweden alone), and a wide range of products from selected suppliers and services, it delivers on its vision to be the first choice for Nordic customers.
“As CPO, my role involves everything from strategic sourcing to supplier relationship management, with a key focus on aligning procurement strategies with the broader organisational objectives,” says Dogay of his current remit. “Essentially I run a purchasing operation that serves all our stores across the Nordics – we’re a retailer chain and don’t own the businesses and stores in the group, but serve them, so it’s quite a unique concept from a procurement perspective.”
