Five Socially Conscious Online Shopping Sites

Online shoppers are becoming more aware of where their purchases originate. They want personalized shopping experiences, unique products they can't find anywhere else, and they prefer to shop on sites that are environmentally-friendly.

There are a variety of options when it comes to shop online. This article will cover our favorite non Amazon sites that offer a carefully selected selection, eco-friendly and fair trade practices.

Rakuten

Rakuten is the most favored eCommerce marketplace in Japan. The sales of its gross merchandise in 2019 exceeded $37 billion. It is a huge online marketplace by international standards. Rakuten is most well-known to Americans through its Ebates brand. This shopping rewards platform provides cash back on more than 2,500 stores and brands. However, the majority of the other brands and services offered by the company aren't as well-known in North America.

Rakuten provides a variety of products and features that help businesses draw and keep customers. This includes free shipping, return policies, and an accessible mobile website. Additionally, Rakuten offers a variety of advertising options to get potential buyers to consider purchasing. These advertising options are available to local and national retail stores.

Another advantage of Rakuten is its extensive inventory, which makes it an ideal option for small and medium-sized businesses. The catalog offers a wide range of products including clothing, food, and toys. This can help companies grow their revenue and create loyalty. Additionally, it provides a wide selection of payment options that include PayPal.

In order to utilize Rakuten, users must create an account for free on the site and connect their credit card. Then they can earn cashback by shopping through the affiliate links of the platform. Users can also download a browser add-on which alerts them to cash back opportunities are available when they browse the internet. The company also selects a store each day to provide double cashback 24 hours a day. Cash back is earned over a period of three months before being is paid out every quarter via PayPal. Referring friends to the website is another way to earn referral bonuses. These bonuses are an excellent incentive to shop on the site.

Etsy

Etsy is a global marketplace where small, independent crafters designers, and artists can meet with customers looking to purchase unique, hand-crafted, or vintage items. Etsy offers a variety of products including jewelry, home decor, and clothing. It accepts credit cards, Etsy gift certificates and various shipping methods.

It has a significant customer base and provides a variety of tools that help vendors promote their products. Its emphasis on vintage and handcrafted goods attracts a niche of loyal buyers. Its secure platform and buyer protection policies help buyers to trust the website. It also allows sellers access to a community that includes other sellers who are willing to offer support and advice.

The platform offers a range of shopping and search features to assist customers in finding the perfect product. Its search function lets users filter items based on price, material, and location. It allows users to save shops, items, and searches to revisit later. In addition, Etsy has a number of educational resources available to sellers to assist them in growing their businesses.

Scammers make use of the Etsy platform in order to steal money and customer information. They may create fake listings or shop names and often provide inaccurate or incomplete descriptions of their items. They might also use fake shipping addresses or offer non-reversible payments methods to deceive people.

While Etsy is a great option for small, independent sellers, there are some disadvantages. The complex algorithm used by the platform can have a significant impact on sales and search results, and modifications to the algorithm are usually made without warning. Its limited customization and layout options can also be limiting for certain sellers.

Made Trade

Made Trade is a store online that provides a range of ethical and sustainable products for the home and fashion. Made Trade offers only top-quality, ethically made products and provides an explanation of how each item is sustainable. They provide a wide range of clothing that is vegan and heritage and accessories, as well as furniture pieces.

Cayley Pater who is a committed environmentalist, and Andy Ives founded Made Trade in the year 2018. Both entrepreneurs are committed to fair trade and sustainable development. Their aim was to create one-stop shopping for the finest created, ethically and sustainably procured products.

The company's goal is to make conscious shopping easy, and their beautifully curated online store makes it easy for customers to find the best sustainable home items as well as wardrobe staples and Artistic Photo Backdrop accessories for their lifestyles. The products they sell are made with earth-friendly materials, and they make every effort to ensure that their designers are paid a living wage and have safe working conditions.

In addition to sourcing ethical and sustainable products, Made Trade also supports women-owned businesses and social enterprises. In fact, the majority of their suppliers are owned by women. The company is also certified as climate neutral. This shows its commitment to sustainability.

Made Trade sells only USA made products, which means that they adhere to the highest ethical standards and follow responsible sourcing practices. They're committed to ensuring that their makers are paid an equitable and sustainable wage, are employed in safe and healthy conditions, and prioritize sustainable growth for their business. They also make use of upcycled and recycled materials, as well plant and mineral dyes that are more beneficial to the environment than chemical dyes. Made Trade is committed to protecting animals and does not sell any products that have been tested on animals.

Better World Books

Better World Books is a socially conscious online bookshop that buys used books from bookstores, B-Air Heavy-Duty Tarps libraries and other community members and sells them to raise money for literacy initiatives. The company also donates books that are not able to be sold to literacy initiatives and other causes. Better World Books is an for-profit Certified B Corporation that creates value for its stakeholders in terms of social, economic and environmental impact.

The company is a global player and offers a variety shipping options and payment methods. Customers can choose between millions of new and used titles. The company also runs frequent sitewide promotions. These are posted in the Deals & Offers section of the website. They are also sent via text and email to customers.

Better World Books is a socially responsible book seller that also supports the development of literacy and sustainability. The company has partnerships with nonprofit organizations, such as the Internet Archive, to digitise and preserve books that would otherwise be lost or destroyed. It is also one of the few online bookstores offering an extensive selection of audiobooks and ebooks.

Better World Books offers several programs that help students and libraries locate the best books and to purchase them. Its library collection program offers free shipping and returns. The collection of textbooks allows students to rent textbooks or purchase them for an affordable cost. It also offers a wide range of educational resources for students, including its guide to studying. Better World Books is an excellent alternative to Amazon, especially for librarians and students who want quality titles at a reasonable price. It also offers a broad selection of international titles that will draw readers from all over the world.

Overstock

Overstock is a retailer of closeout items such as furniture, home décor and other products. The inventory it sells comes from big-box retailers who are unable to sell their items or from suppliers who are looking to clear their surplus inventory. It also purchases directly from manufacturers. Customers of the company can receive high-quality products at low prices.

Overstock offers a variety of ways to shop with a mobile app that lets shoppers visualize how furnishings will appear in their home. It also comes with an Augmented Reality feature that lets shoppers see 3D renderings of a variety of furniture items, including sectional sofas and memory foam mattresses. Customers can be confident that they have chosen the best product for their requirements, and avoid the problems of returning it.

Inventory management is crucial to the success of an e-commerce business. Too little stock leads to losses in sales, while excessive inventory can tie up capital and prevents new products from making it to the market. A recent study by Tyco Retail Solutions found that overstocking retailers with billions of dollars each year in lost revenue.

Although overstocks are a frequent event but there are ways to prevent them from happening. A warehouse management system allows you to keep track of inventory and place orders at the appropriate time. Another way is to invest in a ship-to-customer model, which can reduce storage and warehouse space costs while providing speedier shipping and return options.

Another method to avoid overstock is to make use of a listing tool that can automatically sync inventory across different marketplace channels. Shopping Cart Elite's multichannel listing tool, for example, can manage listings across Overstock and other marketplaces from one dashboard. This tool can also save you time by not having to manually create each listing option one at a time.