Two clever ideas for Jena's retail sector

"JenaVsVirus" camp develops strategies to support the local retail trade

More than 180 participants and a total of 17 final project ideas - that was the conclusion of last week's "JenaVsVirus" camp organized by the JENA Digital network and the Jena Economic Development Agency. Two of the central ideas focused on Jena's retail sector. Although retailers are allowed to reopen from today - at least on an area of 800 square meters - these ideas can help the local retail sector during the Covid-19 crisis and beyond.

Online association of Jena retailers

Example number one: the jenmarkt24.de(link is external) website. For several weeks now, various local retailers have joined forces on this website to form a kind of "Jena Amazon" and sell their products online: Groceries, drugstore products, delicatessen and everyday goods are delivered to your doorstep, without queuing and without the obligation to wear a face mask. The jenmarkt24 team was looking for ideas on how to get deliveries to customers even faster and without any detours.

We hoped that the #JenaVsVirusCamp would provide us with a technical solution to optimize the delivery of our goods, but we didn't know what to expect,

says Florian Beckert, co-founder of the platform and owner of the late store "Fat Lady".

With Alexander Knoll from Navimatix, we were able to bring the right expert into the team, with whom we jointly developed an intelligent route guidance system.

According to Beckert, the developed solution was already in use for the first deliveries this week and worked perfectly:

It has made the effort involved in delivering to the customer much easier and the goods are not only delivered faster, but also within the desired time window.

Around 400 products can already be ordered from home via the jenMARKT24 website and the number is growing daily. The platform will also be opened up to other retailers in the city.

Digital showcase for Jena products and services

Retail is also the focus of another project from the JenaVsVirus camp. The Jena portal handelt-gemeinsam.de(link is external) aims to strengthen local service providers and stores. In this digital shop window, potential customers can quickly and easily get an overview of the variety of Jena's products and services. Handelt-gemeinsam.de is thus the digital guide to the local retail and service offerings in our city. If people then shop locally, this can help to ensure that stores do not have to close or small businesses do not have to give up their activities.

Corona has brought with it all kinds of measures and restrictions that are hitting businesses and the self-employed with full force

says Tom Fischer, co-initiator of the platform and founder of Prosa Clothing UG.

However, there are also positive effects, such as a wave of solidarity that also affects local retailers. Unfortunately, this is of no use to smaller companies and self-employed people if they simply have too little reach and visibility.

According to Fischer, this is where the portal handelt-gemeinsam.de comes in:

We want to support companies and the self-employed by increasing their reach and visibility on the platform. We use social media such as facebook or instagram to generate sales even in these extraordinary times.

To achieve this goal, companies and self-employed people can register on the portal free of charge using a simple registration form and present their products and services in a digital shop window. 77 local retailers and service providers have already gathered there to present themselves together.

The more people take part, the greater the attention for our platform and ultimately for each individual,

Fischer is convinced of the idea.

Wilfried Röpke, Managing Director of the Economic Development Agency, emphasizes how important the local component is when it comes to retail:

'Owner-managed retail in Jena in particular has been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis: Large online retailers are booming, while many small stores with their wide variety of offers are in some cases facing the existential abyss. We hope that the reopening from today will enable all Jena stores to sell their products as widely as possible. As we assume that consumption will continue to grow primarily in the online retail sector in the long term, local retailers need an online strategy in addition to the excellent range of advice on offer locally.

According to the JenaWirtschaft boss, projects such as jenmarkt24.de or handelt-gemeinsam.de can help to perpetuate the motto 'buy local'. According to Röpke, this is more important than ever in these times for the Jena Economic Development Agency in order to maintain the commercial diversity of Jena as a business location.

An overview of all projects can be found at #JenaVsVirus.(link is external)