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Makeke: The app helping independent retailers take on ecommerce giants

How Jenniffer Gearheart-Tang and Drake Gearheart are using social commerce to revolutionise local shopping.

Jenniffer Gearheart-Tang, co-founder and CEO of Makeke, has always had an entrepreneurial streak. With a career spanning marketing, executive recruitment, and corporate innovation, she has consistently sought to bring disruptive ideas to market. Together with her husband, Drake Gearheart, Makeke’s Head of Product & Scalability, the duo have built a platform designed to empower independent retailers by bridging the digital divide that often leaves them struggling against e-commerce giants.

Gearheart-Tang describes her career in four distinct phases: “I started with marketing, having a master’s in marketing management from the University of Exeter. Then I went into executive recruitment, followed by innovation within a large corporation, and finally into entrepreneurship.” Her path has been shaped by a desire to create, innovate, and bring meaningful change to industries she works in. These experiences provided her with an invaluable skill set, preparing her to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing small retailers today—digitisation.

Drake Gearheart’s experience, meanwhile, has been forged in both military and technology spheres. “I was in the US military for 21 years, mostly in the reserves, and at the same time, I had a 25-year career in technology. Over the last 13 to 14 years, I’ve worked with large corporations to modernise how they fund, govern, and value investments in technology.” His deep understanding of scalability, technology infrastructure, and operational efficiency has played a crucial role in shaping Makeke’s robust and flexible framework.

“If you order six items from a big online retailer, you might get six separate deliveries—Makeke reduces that impact.”

The combination of their skills laid the foundation for Makeke, a ‘shoppertainment’ app that fuses short-form video, social interaction, and e-commerce to give local retailers a fighting chance in an increasingly digital-first retail landscape. It is designed not just as a transactional platform, but as a tool for engagement, storytelling, and community building.

The problem they set out to solve

The idea for Makeke was born out of a personal experience during the pandemic. Gearheart-Tang recalls: “Both my husband and I were struck with COVID at the same time, and being alone in the country, we didn’t have any family to help us. We wanted to buy food from our local farm shop or butcher but found they didn’t even have a website. When they did, ordering was complicated, and they didn’t offer delivery.”

This sparked a realisation that many small retailers were technologically under-equipped, unable to meet the growing consumer demand for online shopping. “There was a real digital divide,” she says. “I decided to set up a pop-up shop selling Indonesian curry using my mum’s recipe. That’s when I realised the problems facing independent retailers: after leaving a pop-up, customers still wanted to find you, but setting up an online store required multiple tools—websites, payment systems, CRM, social media.”

This experience led to the conception of Makeke: “We thought, surely, there must be a simpler way? Something that combines e-commerce, social commerce, and mobile commerce in one place.”

The insight was clear—while large corporations had the resources to adapt quickly to digital trends, small businesses were left behind. Many independent retailers lacked the technical expertise or financial resources to integrate multiple digital tools, leaving them at a disadvantage against major e-commerce players.

How Makeke works

Drake Gearheart explains how Makeke was built from the ground up with independent retailers in mind. “The sellers on Makeke are independent retailers—whether they have a brick-and-mortar store, are online-only, or sell in markets or pop-ups. Traditional marketplaces force sellers to conform to a model that suits the customer but makes it difficult for them to operate.”

“Everything I’ve done in my career—from marketing to innovation—has led me to this point with Makeke.”

Makeke takes a different approach, prioritising local connections. “Users choose a local area, and they see products available from retailers in those locations first. Unlike other platforms, we don’t just show what’s available globally—we retain that local connection.”

The app also provides sellers with an intuitive onboarding process, minimising the technical barriers to entry. By offering integrated payment systems, streamlined logistics, and automated marketing tools, Makeke enables independent businesses to focus on what they do best—curating unique products and engaging with their communities.

This decentralised approach is what sets Makeke apart from major e-commerce players. “Big e-commerce relies on centralised logistics hubs, which are by definition not local,” says Gearheart-Tang. “Makeke offers an alternative, keeping business within communities.”

The role of social engagement

Unlike traditional e-commerce, Makeke doesn’t just focus on transactions. “It’s not an e-commerce platform—it’s a social commerce platform,” Gearheart explains. “We use short-form videos, much like user-generated content on TikTok, to showcase products. The social factor is key—users can interact, support businesses they love, and shop in a way that aligns with their values.”

This concept of ‘conscious consumerism’ plays a significant role in Makeke’s mission. Gearheart-Tang shares findings from their research: “Customers told us they feel guilty about buying from big online retailers, but they struggle to find local alternatives. If we make it easy, they’d prefer to support local businesses.”

Sustainability is also at the heart of the platform. “When you order six items from an online retailer, they might all come from different places, resulting in multiple deliveries and a high carbon footprint. If you shop locally, that’s drastically reduced.”

Furthermore, Makeke encourages storytelling. Sellers can share the stories behind their products, helping consumers connect on a deeper level. This enhances customer loyalty and fosters a community-driven shopping experience.

Overcoming the platform dilemma

One of the biggest challenges for any marketplace-style app is achieving critical mass—ensuring enough sellers are present to attract buyers, and vice versa. Makeke has approached this problem with a phased rollout. “We’re starting with Kent, Surrey, and Sussex,” says Gearheart. “Instead of going national immediately, we’re concentrating on local markets, ensuring density before expanding.”

“Our goal is to empower local retailers while making it easier for consumers to shop consciously.”

This deliberate strategy echoes the early growth approach of social networks like Facebook. “Rather than trying to attract millions at once, we’re focusing on key regions, working closely with retailers, getting feedback, and fine-tuning before scaling up,” Gearheart-Tang explains.

To ensure strong engagement, Makeke also provides educational resources for retailers. “We offer training on digital marketing, video content creation, and customer engagement strategies,” says Gearheart-Tang. “This helps small businesses maximise their potential.”

What’s next for Makeke?

Looking ahead, the co-founders are focused on refining the platform and expanding its reach. Gearheart-Tang reflects on how her career has led her to this point: “Everything I’ve done, from marketing to headhunting to corporate innovation, has come together in Makeke. We’re building something that isn’t just a business—it’s a movement.”

For independent retailers, it’s a chance to compete in a digital-first world without sacrificing their identity. For shoppers, it’s a way to support local communities while enjoying the convenience of online shopping. “It’s about making shopping a force for good,” says Gearheart-Tang.

As Makeke continues to evolve, one thing is clear: the future of retail isn’t just about big business. It’s about bringing the personal, the local, and the sustainable into the digital age—and Makeke is leading the charge.

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