Recently, GoodCarts participated in an event – “Building Impact Through E-Commerce,” hosted by Impact Hubs in Ottawa, Houston, Boston and Minneapolis/St. Paul. GoodCarts CEO Steven Clift presented important data highlighting the increasing number of consumers who prefer to purchase from brands supporting social and environmental causes. He also shared a suite of innovative resources and tools for ecommerce retailers to enable brands to increase their social and sustainable impact while driving business growth.
You can see Steven’s full presentation here:
HIGHLIGHTS
- Ecommerce store owners frequently look for Shopify apps relating to charitable donations, carbon offsetting, eco-friendliness, sustainability and tree planting.
- Some of the items consumers, particularly from younger generations, are looking for include: sustainable products, renewable energy, sustainable packaging or less packaging, supply chain transparency and ethical business practices.
WHAT WE LEARNED
- Donation apps are the most popular category among all app categories. The top three apps in the Shopify App Store are ShoppingGives, Shop for Good Donation and Easy Donation. Each app has its own model.
- Within the category of carbon neutral apps, Shopify has more than 25 options. The most popular apps include EcoCart: Carbon Neutral Orders, Carbon Click and Balance by Carbon Checkout. Additionally, Shopify provides an option for stores to use Shop Pay in the checkout process and be part of the tree planting for carbon offsets. You can find more information on that program here
- There are more than 10 tree planting apps currently available on Shopify. Some examples of popular apps in this category include Plant Trees with Ecologi, Sprout, One Tree Planted at Checkout and 1 Product 1 Tree – By Tree Nation.
- More purpose-centered apps are available, including Recurate, which promotes reuse by allowing brands to run their own resale platform and Because, which allows users to add new high-converting content to their websites without coding changes. It can be used to test different versions of content and campaigns to improve conversions and drive more revenue.
ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- To discover more cause marketing apps, these common keywords will help with the search: social impact, sustainable, donations, carbon and trees.
- Also, some apps provide information about other mobile apps and service providers, such as purpose-driven digital marketing agencies. These apps include the GoodCarts GoodGuide “13 Shopify Apps to Boost Sales and Your Impact Mission,” E-commerce tech.io – Cause-marketing, MindfulCommerce directory, Find a B Corp, and 1% for the Planet directory.
OTHER RESOURCES
- To help build a social impact beyond installing an app, here are some valuable resources to consider:
– SupplyShift
– To the Market
– Ethical Suppliers (Clothing) Advice from Virtue and Vice
– ‘What is Fair Trade? And Why Does It Matter for Fashion?‘
– ‘7 Ways B Corps Stand Out: How Every Company Can Make a Difference and Be a Force for Good.’ - To find wholesale and dropshipping brands, visit the GoodCarts Sustainable Products Wholesale Directory and the Ethical & Fair Trade Brands: Wholesale List – Change the World by How You Shop.
Be sure to watch Steven’s entire presentation and take notes! There’s a treasure trove of valuable information for ecommerce retailers. When taking steps as an ecommerce retailer to give back and make a difference in the world, be sure to note them on your website and share across social media to help grow your brand’s social and sustainable impact. For more information on the how and why of sustainability and impact information sharing, check out this GoodCarts guide.
Thank you to all attendees who joined, asked great questions, and shared their stories. Be sure to join us at future GoodCarts events!
