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ANDES Runs a Network of Solidarity Grocery Stores with Talkspirit!
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How do you run a network of more than 500 solidarity grocery stores, while making it easier to exchange and share best practices between these stores? That’s the challenge the National Association for the Development of Solidarity Grocery Stores (ANDES) set out to solve by rolling out the Talkspirit platform.
Founded in 2000, ANDES is the leading national network of solidarity grocery stores, and one of the main players in food aid in France. Since 2019, the association has been part of the SOS group, considered the leader in social entrepreneurship in Europe.
Solidarity grocery stores are local shops that allow people facing financial hardship to do their shopping and access quality products in exchange for a small contribution. By joining the ANDES network, these stores can:
- benefit from dedicated support,
- access supply solutions and national programs,
- and take part in national and regional gatherings to encourage the sharing of best practices and the development of joint projects.
ANDES, in figures:
- 530+ solidarity grocery stores in France (including overseas territories)
- 6,000+ volunteers, 800+ employees 1,500+ interns and civic service workers
- 200,000 people supported every year
- The equivalent of nearly 28 million meals distributed per year
Interviewed by our team, Rozenn Kantarci, Project Manager at ANDES, looks back on the reasons that led her to roll out Talkspirit, and on how the platform is used within the network.
Running a rapidly growing network
“In 2021, we received financial backing from the France Relance recovery plan, which let us aim to create 300 new solidarity grocery stores across France. We went from 300 stores in 2020 to more than 535 today.
Faced with this strong growth, the stores told us they needed to streamline exchanges with the ANDES network, and with the other stores across the country.
With more than 500 stores, information easily gets lost. We therefore needed a platform to share information with the entire network, and let the stores discuss shared challenges (such as supply, social support, or calls for projects). All while avoiding a proliferation of email chains and newsletters”, explains the Project Manager.
A French and user-friendly tool above all
The association carried out a market study to identify the community engagement solutions that could meet this need. Among these solutions, one stood out: Talkspirit.
“We very quickly settled on Talkspirit because it’s a French solution with data management that seems far more transparent than other solutions, and a responsive customer service”, says Rozenn Kantarci.
“With Talkspirit, I can easily reach the support team and get an answer within the day, which isn’t necessarily the case on other platforms such as Workplace from Meta or Microsoft Teams.
We also appreciated the platform’s usability and ease of use because it lets store managers get up to speed quickly, even if they aren’t 100% comfortable with technology.”
Finally, the preferential rate was also a plus for ANDES. Indeed, Talkspirit offers nonprofits a 50% discount on the public price of its licenses. Head to our partner Solidatech’s website to learn more.
A pilot phase to speed up adoption
ANDES followed several key steps to ensure Talkspirit was rolled out smoothly. “We first built our platform and ran a pilot phase with a few regions over three months, to make sure our group structure was clear to everyone”, says Rozenn Kantarci. “Then, in July 2022, we opened Talkspirit to all the stores in the network.”
Today, the platform has around 270 members. A figure that should keep growing in the coming months.
Groups and a home page to make information sharing easier
The news feed, the chat and the home page are the features most used by the association, because they let it share its events and news with the entire network.
To organize this information as effectively as possible, ANDES created several types of groups:
- National groups open to all, which make it easier to pass information between the network’s stores and the ANDES teams. These groups are organized by topic, for example: supply, events, general information, communication tools, partnerships, and so on.
- Regional groups that are private, intended for each store in the region and for the regional coordinator who runs the group. They are also divided into topics tailored to the regions’ needs (volunteering, store management, calls for projects, training, etc.).
Read also: Streamlining communication within a retail network: the PUR etc. case study
Exchanges driven by the stores
“At the regional level, the group managers (who are also the coordinators) are the ones who share the most content, but the stores can also take the initiative to publish posts”, explains Rozenn Kantarci.
What’s more, “the goal is for the stores to take ownership of the platform, and for information to spread more organically. So when one store asks a question on Talkspirit, we first encourage another store to respond, which is often what happens!”. This helps foster mutual support and the building of connections between network members.
“Recently, ANDES opened a new supply platform and a work-integration project in Rouen. A store in Normandy then sent a message on the chat of the Normandy Supply group to congratulate the teams on the quality of the products. Several stores then – in turn – shared their positive feedback on the products, which was greatly appreciated by the director of the work-integration project”.
A space for storing documents
Beyond groups, ANDES also uses the Talkspirit drive to store and share documents securely.
“Before, information and documents were mainly shared by email, which made them quite hard to access. With the drive, it’s now much simpler. We can store documents for calls for projects there, or the more technical documents on membership applications.” This makes it possible to find information quickly, without having to dig through your inbox.
Tangible benefits for the entire network
Talkspirit brings many benefits to the entire network, both for the stores and for the ANDES teams.
“It lets the stores share their common experiences, find solutions together, and draw inspiration by looking at what other territories are doing. On top of that, Talkspirit helps make exchanges with the ANDES teams easier, and so strengthens the sense of belonging to the network”, adds the Project Manager.
With Talkspirit, the stores can share and access the information and documents they need in just a few clicks. Thanks to the platform’s many social features (such as the news feed, chat, polls, comments, etc.), network members can also answer one another’s questions and give each other feedback on their joint initiatives. A great way to boost engagement among members on the platform!
Read also: 4 good reasons to use Talkspirit to run your network
One ambition: bringing the entire network onto Talkspirit
Of course, ANDES doesn’t intend to stop there. In the short term, the association would like to bring all its solidarity grocery stores together on Talkspirit, so they all have access to the same level of information and can be in contact with other stores.
To reach this goal, ANDES plans to simplify the group structure of its Talkspirit platform, so members can identify more quickly which information is shared in which groups. Engagement and support efforts will also continue, in order to establish Talkspirit as THE internal communication platform for ANDES member stores.
In conclusion
Wondering how Talkspirit can address the challenges of your nonprofit or network? Want to learn more about the benefits the platform can bring you? Book a personalized demo with our team or watch the replay of our webinar “6 best practices to energize your community”.
