University of Bremen: Digitization: Students strengthen retailers in Bremen
In a pilot project, master’s students at the university supported the retail trade in Bremen with digitization. It is a cooperation between the university and the digital guides, an initiative of the state of Bremen and WFB Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen GmbH.
Sustainable ideas to strengthen the digitization skills of the retail trade in Bremen – that is the aim of the “Digital Retail Consulting for Bremen” project at the University of Bremen. “Many small companies simply lack the time and capacity to fundamentally develop a digital strategy,” explains Professor Maik Eisenbeiß from the university’s markstones Institute of Marketing, Branding & Technology. Master’s students specializing in marketing and entrepreneurship took on this task in close cooperation with the respective company and, for example, collected ideas for online shops, produced social media posts and optimized websites for search engines.
“The retailers receive suitable solutions for the digitization of their business. At the same time, our students can put theoretical content directly into practice, gain important experience in project management and get to know advisory situations, ”says Professor Kristina Klein, who heads the consumer behavior work group at the markstones Institute. The first successes were already visible in a timely manner: The new Instagram posts were able to register significantly more clicks than before.
The project will be continued in WS 21/22
A total of four student groups – with two to four members – and four shops ranging from delicatessen to coffee to natural cosmetics and interior design were involved. For example, Bauhof Wohnimpuls and NaturWerk took part.
The master’s seminar “Digital Retail Consulting for Bremen” is a cooperation between the markstones Institute of Marketing, Branding & Technology of the University of Bremen and the digital guides of the WFB Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen GmbH. The team of digital guides is part of the Bremen Economic Development Agency and financed by project funds from the Senator for Economics, Labor and Europe.
In the winter semester 2021/2022, the project is to be continued and, in the best case, made permanent. Interested retailers can contact the digital pilot team at the Bremen Economic Development Agency.