How These Women Entrepreneurs Leverage the Power of Community

Just like Poshmark and Etsy, women use Airmart to sell to their communities.

Holly Fruehling, first female crab captain in San Francisco, with her boat on the SF wharf (credit: Angeline T.)

The majority (77%) of American women have a Facebook, and studies have found that the majority of women turn to social media for purchasing advice and recommendations. This is good news for female business owners who have made the shift to e-commerce during the pandemic and need to connect with online customers.

As such, it’s no coincidence that women make up around 80% of the vendors, and more than 90% of chefs and bakers on the Airmart platform. Their success is a testament to their quality products, customer service skills, and their ability to inspire their communities to mobilize around them.

Sway Soturi, gluten and dairy free baker at Forest + Flour (credit: forestandflour.com)

These bakers, pastry chefs, farmers and distributors tap into their existing communities online and off to make sales via the platform. While traditional apps obscure individual local brands in a sea of commodified vendors and rely on homepage placement for discovery, Airmart helps merchants market to their own audience and sell through their shop’s private link. These women entrepreneurs have leveraged the power of Facebook parent groups, local buy-and-sell groups, and their own networks to build strong customer bases for their local businesses, and we believe they should have ownership over those communities.

For years, we have seen women build businesses from their online followings on community commerce platforms like the clothing resale app Poshmark and handmade goods marketplace Etsy. Often, entrepreneurial women start their shops on these platforms as a side hustle to make extra cash doing something they enjoy, but many have found overwhelming success that allows them to quit their day jobs and run their businesses full-time.

Yen Pang, distributor and tastemaker for Aussie Pies and Sausages (credit: Yen Pang)

Airmart is a commerce solution for local businesses that thrive on the support of their returning customers and loyal community. We want to empower women to turn their side hustles into full-time jobs, so they can do what they love and connect with their communities.

Airmart stores featuring products from seafood vendors, farmer’s markets, and local bakers.

About Us

Airmart is an online platform to help wholesalers, small businesses, and chefs connect with their community. Airmart got its start helping minority-owned restaurants and produce wholesalers sell direct-to-consumer during the pandemic and save their businesses.

If you would like to see a 3-minute demo before launching your shop, you can book a demo here.