Supporting charities will boost sales for retailers
Nearly half of Britons would buy more from a store that supports charity, says Give as you Live survey
The research shows that eight in ten (79%) Brits believe that retailers should be doing more to support UK charities. The findings, from social enterprise Give as you Live, show that UK consumers increasingly perceive retailers as lacking in CSR credentials and are imploring them to do more to help UK charities.
Moreover, nearly half (49%) of us would spend more money with a retailer, if they donated to a charity, whilst 83% of Britons said they’d like to select the charity that the retailer donates to. With UK consumers spending on average £586.6m online every week in July 2013*, retailers have the potential to capture millions more in revenue, should they help support UK charities.
This survey was commissioned by Give as you Live – the fundraising platform that turns online shopping into cash for charities, through which users have helped to raise over £3.8m for UK charities. Over 2,000 Britons were asked about retailers’ CSR activities and its impact on customer loyalty and spending.
The majority of Britons (86%) said that supporting charity would give one retailer the edge over one who does not – meaning that the charity-supporting retailer is more likely to get their business.
The majority (85%) of the younger generation (those aged 16-24) are far more likely to be influenced by the charitable side of retailers. The least likely to be influenced are the over 55s, with only 71% of respondents saying a retailers CSR initiatives would influence their purchasing behaviour. More women (83%) than men (72%) believed that retailers should be doing more for charity.
Polly Gowers OBE, CEO and Founder of Give as you Live, commented “These survey findings send a very strong message to retailers in the UK. Not only do shoppers want to see retailers support charities, the perception that retailers are giving back to society actually impacts a shopper’s loyalty and amount they spend.”
She continues, “Give as you Live offers retailers a unique way to support UK charities. When consumers shop online using our platform, a percentage of their spend goes to charity, which comes via the retailer as part of their affiliate marketing spend. This is an easy and simple way of ensuring that retailers can start doing their bit for UK charities and not just relying on the UK consumer to do all the heavy lifting.”
The survey was conducted by Censuswide between 13th August 2013 and 20th August 2013. Data is based on responses from 2,050 men and women in the UK.
*According to the Office for National Statistics report into Retail Sales, July 2013
