What is Social Selling?

Social selling is the art of developing relationships or using social networks to locate and interact directly with prospects. Traditionally called “direct selling”, social selling benefits over 120 million independent sellers worldwide that earn commissions from companies they represent through single or multi-level sales models. Perhaps the earliest form of social selling was in the early 1900s when Brands empowered independent reps (“Sellers”) to sell their wares door to door, with a focus on one-to-one demonstrations. The model has evolved over time and exponentiated in recent years with the adoption of social media and expanding the gig economy. Today’s social seller can market limitlessly through online avenues, especially with the rise of social media. The industry is valued at $180 Billion, growing 10% annually, and accelerating to exceed $1 Trillion in 10 years. Social selling has been walled off from broader retail due to high barriers to entry, which has allowed giants to corner the market by creating silos to insulate sellers. The result is an industry that is highly centralized and extremely captive for sellers.

Gemstra is a blockchain-integrated ecosystem for the social selling economy. Gemstra BOUTIQUES is our flagship marketplace that connects Brands and Sellers in social selling. The success of BOUTIQUES led us to build ASTRA - a blockchain platform to serve as a technology infrastructure for retail merchants to join the social selling economy. Gemstra will make the BOUTIQUES marketplace software open source and create the Gemstra SDK so any merchant (retailer) can easily add a social selling channel to their business.

Team & Advisors

Token information

Aside from reducing friction for an industry depending on multiple fragmented systems, the Gemstra Token gives the ecosystem a framework for Gamification and Governance. Gamification has been a cornerstone of the social selling industry for decades. Companies gamify achievements or actions so Sellers stay engaged. Merchants and Brands can customize a Reward System that is built into ASTRA. A system of staking and voting democratizes the economy by allowing stakeholding actors a say in deciding rules for their collective business. Previously, industry giants made arbitrary decisions in a model where Sellers was leveraged. The Gemstra Token can be staked with the Merchant so Sellers and Brands have a say in the direction. All actors can vote on important business decisions like whether a Merchant allows entry to a new Brand, changes to compensation plan per Merchant, changes to commission amount per Brand, or even policy changes. For the first time, the social selling model will be democratized to promote fair behavior for the actors involved.

Media links

WEBSITE: https://gemstra.com/
WHITEPAPER: https://docsend.com/view/xvyqq7a
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gemstraofficial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gemstraofficial
Telegram: https://t.me/gemstra
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Gemstra/

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