The story behind mPocket

It is about the biggest employer in the world generating 90% of the global turnover and employing 50% of all jobs and apprenticeships. Disregarded in recent years, even declared extinct, it did not get the necessary support in our opinion. Although exactly this employer is the one connecting people with one another. Sustainable and environmentally friendly it preserves livelihoods, provides new jobs, offers emotional and cultural spaces for encountering and experiencing. We are not talking about any large corporations – it is about our local businesses, our favorite shops around the corner. We at mPocket want to strengthen our local businesses for the future. Why and how we are aiming to do that will be explained by our founder and CEO, Markus Demirci:

“As a kid we always dream about running our own business – we start by selling lemonade on the street where we dedicate all our time and energy serving our customers. Now as a grown-up in the real world customer service is becoming more and more complex and time consuming for local retailers. Particularly with the advancing digitization you don’t just meet your customer in your shop. You meet customers in various channels online, because that is where the majority of customers start their shopping journey. Retailers needs to be more digitally engaged to drive customers back into stores without any additional effort. Despite e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retail is still the largest employer in the world.”

But is the shop from your childhood and it’s problems even comparable to the ones today?

“Probably not 1:1, but after 25 years of experience in retail I can tell you that there are multiple challenges for today’s retailers. Some are getting older and younger ones, the millennials, are moving up. Younger people in particular are more digitally engaged and have a more modern mindset. For them social media platforms are part of their everyday life, writing customer reviews is daily business just as sharing their experiences online. Anyone who wants to convince them to become an employee needs new tools, a modern appearance and needs to be present and visible digitally. Today it is not sufficient to wait in your shop for the next customer to visit, the competition is simply too big and diverse. Especially now with the pandemic customers and their shopping behavior have changed completely – retail now is simply more digital and store associates have more digital tasks across different systems.”

Does every shop, no matter how small or big, need to have an online shop?

“No. What local retailers of all sizes need is the right support. Solutions which save time and, are easy to handle. Solutions that, help to collect more customer data to understand their needs and that simplify the retailers’ work day in and day out. The online convenience which customers acquainted with during COVID also needs to be available in brick & mortar retail. Local retail needs a tool which supports sales associates with their daily activity and does not distract or even complicate it. A tool that merges all necessary data and brings a decisive advantage.”

How does such a tool look like?

“I thought about that for a very long time. It was clear from the beginning that the handling must be as easy as possible and it needs to be almost like an additional digital employee for the retailers. This mission led to mPocket. mPocket is an application which can be used by everybody who knows how to use a smartphone. However, if assistance and support is still needed, our whole team is happy to guide. mPocket helps local businesses to connect, interact and engage with todays customers.”

Why mPocket?

“My vision from 25 years of expertise in retail is that each interaction between customers and businesses should be linked seamlessly. In our logo the m is mirrored and forms an infinity symbol which represents this seamless connection. “The online convenience in brick-and-mortar.” At the same time the m stands for “mobile” since all tools and devices which we know from retail (cash register, product scanner, screens etc.) will be replaced by a mobile device in the long term. The “remote control of life” will be the standard tool in interactions between customers and businesses. Almost everything from retail can be replaced by a mobile solution at one point and then simply fits into our pocket without sacrificing the personal shopping experience. I know, this might sound a bit too much, but why don’t you just test it yourself?”

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