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Linking to customers’ favourite charities can create loyalty to retailers

Retailers can engender greater loyalty with their customers if they make a contribution to a charity of their choice when the customer makes a transaction through… View Article

GENERAL MERCHANDISE NEWS

Linking to customers’ favourite charities can create loyalty to retailers

Retailers can engender greater loyalty with their customers if they make a contribution to a charity of their choice when the customer makes a transaction through their online stores. By Glynn Davis

Ahead of presenting at the 5th Retail Bulletin Customer Loyalty Conference 2014 on June 10 Polly Gowers, chief executive and founder of Give as you Live, suggests its research has found that 49% of consumers would spend more money with a retailer that regularly supported charities and good causes, and that 86% of shoppers say a charitable retailer has a clear edge over one who does no CSR activities.

This preference for such retailers can be enhanced by giving the customer the ability to choose which charity receives the money. Over 80% of shoppers would rather choose a charity than contribute to those chosen by retailers.

Give as you Live is a simple concept, according to Gowers, who says it enables shoppers to buy from around 3,500 retail sites and select from 220,000 registered charities who will then receive a percentage commission from the retailers when the consumer makes a purchase.

Over the course of three years Give as you Live has raised £4.5 million for various good causes. When shoppers register with the company it creates a browser tool that enables a frictionless shopping experience on all the participating websites – that include the likes of Amazon, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer as well as many smaller merchants.

“It’s an opportunity for the retailer to deliver real loyalty. Give as you Live lets shoppers choose the charity and we know there is a large proportion of the population with loyalty to certain charities. It’s a significant number,” says Gowers.

Proof that consumers value this was seen during Valentines this year when the highest number of transactions with flower sellers went to those retailers offering the greatest percentage commissions to the customer’s chosen charities.

“The shopper can see the commissions paid by all the retailers and we can see them shifting to those retailers with the highest percentages going to the charity. The sales levels are noticeably different,” she says.

Part of the company’s strategy for this year is to work closely with retailers whereby Give as you Live can help them attract more shoppers – who fit the profile of those customers that visit the retailer’s online store because of its link to Give as you Live. This is part of its development of various services that have customer insight at the heart.

Give as you Live is potentially in a powerful position because Gowers says it has a view of the transactions of customers across many retail sites whereas the retailers themselves only have visibility on their own websites.

Such has been the success of the company that its growth last year hit 200% and this is continuing in 2014 as “an awful lot of people discover us”. The key to this is getting retailers onboard as “they own the shopper” says Gowers.

Polly joins a top line-up of speakers for this event including Sainsbury’s, Home Retail Group, feelunique.co, Orange Group, Lux Fix, Whitbread and more so make sure of your place at the important event. Click here for full details and registration. 

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