Empowering Local Food MSMEs through Gen Z Collaboration, Social Commerce, and Influencer Marketing An Innovative Digital Strategy for Competitive Advantage

Abstract

Digital transformation is not longer some distant goal for micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) it is the very ground on which everyday business takes place and is won. In the local food sector of Indonesia where heritage based recipes and fast movement online markets meet there is a lot at stake. This qualitative study investigates how Gen Z, social commerce and influencer marketing comes together in a way that makes local food MSMEs more empowered in ways that are technologically literate, culturally relevant and commercially impactful. Through in depth interviews with MSME owners, Gen Z content producers and community based microinfluencers in Medan we see how everyday practices of cocreation are drawn into digital visibility, trust and competitive advantage. Findings suggest that Gen Z collaborators often act as digital translators who transform deep rooted cultural narratives into platform sensitive material that comes across as authentic to us as community audiences. Social commerce operates less as a sales channel and more as an engaged public meeting place where identity, taste and trust are calibrated in real time. Microinfluencers act as credible bridge builders between local cultural values and digital discourse building engagement and closing perceived distances between producers and consumers.