> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.therecursive.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Bulgarian CloudCart Expands AI-Powered Store Management as It Marks 10 Years - URL: https://www.therecursive.com/bulgarian-cloudcart-expands-ai-powered-store-management-as-it-marks-10-years/ - Published: 2026-11-05T14:56:45.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-05T14:56:45.000Z - Description: The Bulgarian e-commerce platform is introducing new AI-powered management capabilities, reporting growing use of its shopping assistants, and temporarily waiving eligible card processing fees ahead of the holiday season. - Author: The Recursive - Tags: Fintech, News, Sponsored Bulgarian e-commerce platform **CloudCart** is expanding its AI-powered services for online merchants as it marks its tenth anniversary. The company is introducing tools that allow businesses to manage parts of their online stores through AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, while also expanding the use of AI in customer support and shopping experiences. Founded in 2016 by brothers Nikolay and Peter Iliev, **CloudCart has helped more than 21,000 businesses launch online stores across seven countries**. The platform currently serves more than 1,500 paying merchants and processed approximately 5.5 million orders worth over €550M in merchant sales in 2025. The latest developments follow a two-year effort to integrate AI into CloudCart's internal operations, which the company is now extending to its merchant-facing services. *“Ten years ago, we wanted to make it easier for businesses to sell online,”* said **Nikolay Iliev, Co-Founder and CEO of CloudCart**. > “Today, having a store is only part of the challenge. Merchants also need people, time and expertise to run it and help it grow. We have spent the past two years rebuilding how we work with AI. Now we are bringing that experience to our merchants, so their teams can spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on their customers and business.” ## Bringing AI into daily store operations Through its developer platform, **cloudcart.dev**, merchants and their technical partners can connect external AI assistants, including Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Cursor, to their online stores. The integration uses a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and command-line tools, enabling AI assistants to perform supported tasks such as creating products and generating stock reports, subject to the permissions granted by merchants. The tools also support custom store design, additional functionality, and integrations with third-party software. CloudCart is also developing its own AI assistant, **Aura**, to handle a wider range of merchant operations, including SEO, copywriting, paid advertising, and merchandising. These capabilities are still under development and are intended to operate with merchant approval. ## AI shopping assistants CloudCart has also shared initial figures from the deployment of its AI shopping tools at a major Bulgarian electronics and home appliances retailer. Between July 15 and October 13, 2026, **Aura Chat handled more than 32,000 conversations with over 22,000 customers**, helping shoppers find products, check availability, and make purchasing decisions. According to company data, the assistant recorded an average response time of 19.3 seconds, while 4,327 orders followed chat interactions during the period. Over the same three months, **Aura Search processed more than 1.6 million shopper searches**, with 5,290 orders recorded following search interactions. For larger businesses, CloudCart also offers a dedicated Growth & AI Transformation team covering implementation, optimisation, and ongoing development. The programme is designed to work with approximately 25 merchants per country, with one client per retail vertical in each market. According to the company, around 60% of its clients have migrated from another e-commerce platform, primarily Shopify, WooCommerce, or custom-built solutions. ## CloudCart reports operational improvements Before expanding its AI tools to merchants, CloudCart introduced automation across seven internal functions, including customer support, DevOps, monitoring, marketing, churn prevention, sales prospecting, and financial analysis. The company reports that it currently operates **27 AI agents** and has replaced more than 15 external software tools with internally developed systems. Between June 1 and October 13, 2026, AI reportedly resolved 95% of the 2,989 customer support tickets processed. CloudCart also reported that 98% of tickets received a response within 60 minutes, with an average customer satisfaction score of 4.8 out of 5. **Human support remains available for more complex cases.** The company also reported an improvement in its financial performance, with its **EBITDA margin increasing from -26% in 2024 to +17% in the first quarter of 2026**, a rise of 43 percentage points. Its gross margin increased from 69% to 79% over the same comparison period. While these improvements coincided with CloudCart's internal AI adoption, the company has not disclosed how much of the change can be attributed specifically to automation. *“Our team designs the agents, sets the rules and decides what they should improve,”* said **Peter Iliev, Co-Founder and CTO**. > “That experience is what we bring to merchants: technology backed by people who understand how to put it to work in a real business.” ## CloudCart waives card processing fees ahead of the holiday season Alongside its AI developments, CloudCart has introduced a temporary payment processing offer ahead of Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. **Merchants using CloudCart Pay will pay 0% processing fees on eligible card transactions until December 31, 2026**, with the company covering the associated costs. CloudCart Pay supports card payments, Apple Pay, and Google Pay and is currently used by more than 100 merchants. The offer is separate from CloudCart's existing policy of not charging percentage-based platform commissions on merchant sales. New businesses can also launch an online store for €1 for their first three months. *“Black Friday and the holidays are a key trading period for many of our merchants,”* said Nikolay Iliev. *“We want to help them offer a simpler checkout and keep more of what they earn. Covering their eligible card processing costs during those weeks is a direct investment in their businesses at the moment it matters most.”* ## What's next for CloudCart? Looking ahead, CloudCart is preparing to launch its **Ecosystem of Experts**, a portal connecting merchants with external specialists and service providers. The platform is expected to bring project communication, proposals, contracts, and invoicing into one place, with CloudCart acting as an intermediary in payment disputes. The company is also working on expanding Aura's capabilities beyond customer-facing interactions, with the aim of automating additional store management and marketing tasks.