At best, crises are always times of rethinking and change. Hardly any other industry has been in the focus of attention in the past and is in the current situation as much as bricks-and-mortar retail. Therefore, quick action with simple solutions in the area of digital sales via e-commerce and conversational commerce is currently particularly in demand.

With its expertise in digital distribution, GUTEMARKEN supports the initiative “Digital Airlift for Retail”, which was founded by its service partner FORTUNE SERVICES. On the website: https://www.digitale-luftbruecke.com, the initiative offers free guidance and advice for retailers to transform a WhatsApp business channel into a marketplace in just a few steps and thus resume trading.

“The current crisis is not changing the world, it is merely speeding up adaptation,” says Felix Hartmann, Managing Director of Fortune Services GmbH. “With our support, we want to help the currently troubled retail sector.” In this form of conversational commerce, customer acquisition takes place via social media channels or signage in the window of the stationary store. The use of WhatsApp Business is completely free of charge and DSGVO-compliant for the retailer as well as the potential buyer. It should be noted, however, that only pull communication is allowed in the context of acquisition and that any push forms can be punished by WhatsApp.

GUTEMARKEN uses the above-mentioned “Conversational Commerce as a Service” of Fortune Services GmbH for the two online shops of its brand partners Via Appia and NICOWA. With the collected insights from daily sales and operations, GUTEMARKEN supports all retailers and partners of the Digital Airlift.