Digital Journal
Digital Journal · 2024
Robert Nikic Featured in Digital Journal
Digital Journal interview with Robert Nikic on fixing a fragmented e-commerce industry and using AI for prediction, tracking and automation.
At a glance
- Outlet
- Digital Journal
- Format
- Q&A interview
- Interviewer
- Jon Stojan
- Published
- February 26, 2024
- Topic
- Fixing a fragmented industry with AI
- Robert's role
- Founder and CEO
Last updated
What Robert Nikic told Digital Journal
Why he built it
In this Q&A with Jon Stojan, Robert explains why he built his platform. The industry was fragmented, and sellers struggled to coordinate sourcing, logistics and marketplaces on their own.
The early work
He describes the hard early stretch honestly: earning the trust of sellers and suppliers, refining the technology through many versions and figuring out how to scale without breaking what worked.
The AI behind it
Asked about technology, he names three uses of AI: "predictive analysis, real-time data tracking, and automation." Prediction helped sellers choose products, tracking kept orders visible, and automation took repetitive work off their hands.
Related: Men's Journal on AI-driven insight · Tech Times on life after launch
"AI for predictive analysis, real-time data tracking, and automation."
In Robert's words
Jon asked me why I built it, and the honest answer is that I was tired of watching sellers juggle everything alone. My family came here as refugees from the Balkans and started over with nothing. My teenage startups failed and I worked 18-hour shifts, so I respect how hard it is to coordinate a business by yourself. Earning trust took years. AI for predictive analysis, real-time tracking and automation helped, but trust came first. We built it without outside investors and made the Inc. 5000. Since 2026 I've worked on SDG 8 & 9, where sales data could unlock fair credit.
Robert Nikic
Key takeaways
01
A fragmented industry
Sellers had to coordinate sourcing, logistics and marketplaces alone.
02
Trust before scale
The early work was earning trust and refining the product.
03
Three uses of AI
Predictive analysis, real-time data tracking and automation.
Where this fits in his story
2011
First platform launched
2018
Relaunched as a full platform
2023
Inc. 5000 debut at #418
2024
Climbs to #35
This feature
2026
Steps away to work on SDG 8 & 9
Where it led
Then, he used data to make small sellers more predictable. Now, under SDG 9.3, he works on credit decisions based on real sales data rather than collateral alone. The same tracking that helped sellers run their stores could help lenders see that a small business is real and growing.
Then
Then, he used data to make small sellers more predictable.
Questions
When did Digital Journal interview Robert Nikic?
February 26, 2024, in a Q&A with Jon Stojan.
What did he discuss?
Why he built his platform, the early work of earning trust and the AI behind it.
What does Robert Nikic do now?
He works on SDG 8 & 9, including fair credit under SDG 9.3.
Original article
Read the original article · Published in Digital Journal, February 26, 2024
Digital Journal contributor
About Digital Journal
Digital Journal is a Canadian digital news platform founded in 1998. Wikipedia
About Robert
Robert Nikic is an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker and Advisory Council Chair at Reseated Councils (United Nations SDG 8 & 9). He came to the United States as a refugee, and from 2011 to 2026 he built and led an e-commerce company that was twice named to the Inc. 5000. Today he works to make it easier for anyone, anywhere, to start a business and grow it.