Social Impact |
Our Social Impact
and response to the Covid-19 global pandemic.
At Zeald, we are passionate about the online marketing and digital progression of all businesses. Prior to Covid, we were exploring opportunities to invest our 20 years of digital technology and experience into positive, community-beneficial activity.
When Covid hit, we responded by developing our Get Ecommerce Movement (GEM) to get small businesses trading online fast and for free. GEM became the cornerstone of our social impact activity throughout the pandemic.
Read on to learn more about GEM and our Covid response.
Get Ecommerce Movement (GEM)
Our Get Ecommerce Movement - the GEM initiative - was designed to get small and medium businesses trading online, without the barriers of cost, time, and know-how. Created during Covid, this was our response to help SMEs survive the blunt impact of lockdowns on business, and to offer our digital expertise for good.
GEM websites offered Kiwi businesses a free build and setup, free hosting, and free helpdesk support for a year, followed by a low hosting fee if they continued with their GEM website. We developed GEM technology to provide no-to-low cost ecommerce for Kiwi businesses; the technology underpinned all of our social impact work.
March 2020
Zeald creates and launches its Get Ecommerce Movement, offering 500 free ecommerce websites to help Kiwi SMEs get trading online fast, amid Covid lockdowns. GEM websites offer full-powered ecommerce, based on template designs, tailored by each business's unique content.
April 2020
First GEM websites go live, including Robyn's Cottage, a sewing and knitting supplies store in Tauranga. Self-confessed "not computer savvy" Robyn digitally upskills through the process and within six months her website accounts for 60% of business.
May 2020
After a swift uptake, Zeald expands its 500 free website offer to an additional 50 free websites per week. Later, Zeald removes the limit and offers free GEM websites ongoing to any Kiwi business that wants to get online with an ecommerce or lead-generation website.
January 2021
Children's author and ceramic artist, Mr Heff's GEM website goes live. Retired as a much-loved school art teacher and principal, Paul Heffernan is thrilled to finally pen his wild, wacky and fun children's books - with a GEM website to share them with the world!
February 2021
GEM expands beyond New Zealand into the Philippines (February 2021) and later Fiji (August 2021). Using GEM technology, Zeald offers ecommerce solutions and support to meet the specific needs of micro business owners.
March 2021
Davao local and micro business owner, Clint Arduo, was an early adopter of GEM in the Philippines. He says getting online for free and being able to trade and earn an income mid-pandemic was a lifeline.
July 2021
Zeald reaches 1,000 GEM website applications to help SME businesses start and progress on their digital journeys.
September 2021
Cheekee Hero is a special, family-run charity to help children and families who are living with a childhood illness - powered by fun, courage, and superbot "Cheekee". Their GEM website provides a stable platform for their charity and a home for Cheekee.
April 2022
Through GEM, Zeald provides a digital skills training programme to indigenous Filipino women via a partnership with the New Zealand embassy, local business, local government, and not-for-profit groups in the Philippines.
GEM Academy (GEMA)
The GEM Academy was a free, online, internship-style training course in digital skills. It was designed to provide practical knowledge and the opportunity for hands-on, real-world experience, for Kiwis to develop a broader digital skillset during Covid. Upon completion of various GEMA course modules, graduates received formal acknowledgement of their achievements so they could qualify and share their new digital skills and capabilities with potential employers or in other relevant environments.
May 2020
GEMA's first intake was in May 2020. Interns came from various backgrounds, from young uni students wanting to digitally upskill, to working professionals wanting to expand their digital capability and knowledge.
November 2020
One early GEMA intern was paired to help a GEM website owner in the honey industry. Within one month of working together, online honey sales doubled. Our intern later went on to secure full-time work, grateful for her digital skills training.
December 2020
Intakes for the GEM Academy continued on a rolling basis, reaching more than 100 digitally-trained interns by the end of the year.
Digital Boost Alliance Aotearoa
The Digital Boost Alliance Aotearoa is a group of like-minded organisations working together to help Kiwi businesses and business owners become more digital. The group is committed to helping accelerate the use of digital technologies in New Zealand to build a strong digital economy and become a more productive, more digital Aotearoa.
The Alliance is a collaborative effort between government (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment - MBIE) and the private sector. Zeald is a proud foundation member of the Alliance since May 2021 and David Kelly, Chairman of Zeald, served on its Board for two years.
May 2021
Zeald joins the Digital Boost Alliance Aotearoa at its inception. It's an exciting opportunity and framework to work together with other like-minded companies to help Kiwi businesses lift their use of digital technologies.
August 2021
Through the Alliance, Zeald and the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) connect and partner to create the Digital Cluster Initiative. The project aims to support regional growth and digital transformation of Kiwi business networks, to help boost productivity and improve wellbeing in Aotearoa.
September 2021
David Kelly, Chairman of Zeald, joins the Digital Boost Alliance Board. He brings Zeald's 20+ years of ecommerce and digital experience, expertise, and strategic insights from the SME business community, to the Board and Alliance activity.
April 2022
Zeald partners with Digital Boost to transform Waipawa (central Hawke's Bay) to become the most digital town of Aotearoa. Providing free ecommerce Zeald gives hands-on support to digitally onboard local businesses to new websites.
December 2022
Zeald receives endorsement from the Minister of Small Business for its lead and contribution to a Digital Boost Alliance project focused on software integration for small businesses.
The Digital Cluster Initiative, with Bank of New Zealand
The Digital Cluster Initiative (DCI) formed part of Zeald's and BNZ's commitment as foundation members of the Digital Boost Alliance. It came from a shared vision to improve economic development in New Zealand through digital transformation.
The DCI was co-designed to overcome the challenges Kiwi businesses face - as a nation we're small, remote, and sparsely populated, with limited market access and resourcing. The DCI Team partnered with three Kiwi business groups as a Pilot, to create an innovative digital clustering model to later share learning with other businesses.
August 2021
Zeald and BNZ connect via the Digital Boost Alliance and strike up a conversation. Eventually they form a partnership to create the Digital Cluster Initiative together, as part of their respective membership commitments to the Alliance.
March 2022
Following an RFP and application process, the DCI Team selects three Kiwi business groups to partner with for the Pilot. Together, they commit to exploring how to digitally transform collectively, to collaborate and build scale, and explore new markets online.
November 2023
Having worked and learned with three Kiwi business networks, including baby product manufacturers, grape growers and winemakers from the South, and Māori fine artists in the Bay of Plenty, the DCI Pilot is formally concluded.
Other initiatives in Aotearoa and the Pacific
March 2020
Zeald launches free weekly webinar series "Keep Calm and Get Digital" during the first Covid lockdown. These sessions help Kiwi business owners digitally upskill and adapt to running their businesses online.
April 2021
Zeald partnered with Shop Online Fiji and CDP Couriers to provide free ecommerce and digital support to the Fijian micro business community, using GEM technology and websites.
December 2023
After an extraordinary four years Zeald wraps up its social impact work, incredibly proud of what the company has contributed and achieved throughout the pandemic.
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