Five Socially Conscious Online Shopping Sites

Online consumers are becoming more conscious of where their purchases come from. 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 time to shop online. This article will highlight some of our most-loved non-Amazon websites that offer carefully curated selection of products and environmentally friendly fair trade practices.

Rakuten

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

Rakuten offers a range of products and features that can help businesses to keep and attract customers. Free shipping, return policies and a mobile-friendly site are among the features. Rakuten also provides a variety of advertising options that can reach potential customers. These advertising options are available to both local and national retail stores.

Another feature of Rakuten is its extensive range of products, making it a fantastic option for small and medium-sized businesses. The catalog contains a wide variety of items, including clothing, food and toys. This helps companies increase their revenues and build loyalty. It also offers a variety of payment options which include PayPal.

To use Rakuten users must first create an account for free Rakuten account and link their credit card. Then, they can earn cash through shopping using the platform's affiliate link. Users can also download a browser extension that informs them when cash back opportunities are available while browsing the web. The company also picks a store every day to offer double cashback for 24 hours. Cash back is earned over three months, and then paid quarterly 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 an online marketplace that connects small-scale artisans as well as artists and designers with buyers who are looking to purchase unique, Wi-Fi Enabled Mini Pc handmade or vintage products. The site features a wide assortment of goods including clothing, jewelry, home decor, and art. It also offers a range of shipping options and accepts different payment methods, including credit cards and Etsy gift cards.

It has a substantial customer base and provides a number of tools to help sellers market their products. Its focus on vintage and handcrafted goods attracts a niche of devoted buyers. The site's secure platform as well as its policies to protect buyers encourage buyers to be confident in it. It also gives sellers access to a network of other sellers who are willing to offer support and advice.

The platform has a range of shopping and search options to assist customers in finding the perfect product. Users can filter items with its search function based on location or price range, as well as material. It allows users to save items, shops, and searches to return to later. Additionally, Etsy has a number of educational resources for sellers to assist them in growing their businesses.

Scammers take advantage of the Etsy platform in order to extort money and customer information. They can create fake listings or shop names and they often list faulty or inaccurate descriptions of their products. They also try to fool people by using fraudulent shipping addresses or offering non-reversible payment options.

While Etsy is an excellent option for small, indie sellers, there are some disadvantages. The platform's complex algorithm can have a major impact on sales and search results and any modifications to the algorithm are usually made without warning. Some sellers may also find its limited customization and layout options to be too restrictive.

Made Trade

Made Trade is an online store that offers a variety of sustainable and ethical household items and fashion items. Made Trade only offers high-quality ethically-made products and gives a description of how each item is sustainable. They provide a wide range of vegan and heritage clothing and accessories and home décor pieces.

Cayley Pater who is a committed environmentalist, Incontinence Dog Pads and Andy Ives founded Made Trade in the year 2018. Both entrepreneurs are passionate about fair trade and sustainability. They wanted to create a shop that sold products that were sustainable and ethically sourced, as well as beautifully created.

The company's mission is to make shopping mindfully easy, and their beautifully curated online store makes it possible for shoppers to find the best sustainable home items, wardrobe staples and accessories for their lifestyles. All of their products are made from earth-friendly materials and they work to ensure that their designers earn a decent wage and are provided with safe working conditions.

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

Made Trade offers only USA produced products, which means they adhere to strict ethical standards and adhere to responsible sourcing procedures. They're committed to ensuring their makers receive a living wage and work under safe and healthy conditions. They also place a high value on sustainable growth. They also make use of recycled and upcycled materials, as well as plant and mineral-based dyes, which are better for the environment than chemical dyes. Made Trade is committed to protecting animals and will not sell products that have been tested on animals.

Better World Books

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

The company has an international presence, and offers various shipping options and payment methods. Customers can choose between millions of used and new titles. The company also offers frequent promotions on the site. These are posted in the Deals & Offers section of the website and are sent via email and text to customers.

In addition to being a conscious book retailer, Better World Books also supports sustainability and literacy initiatives. Better World Books has partnerships with nonprofit organizations, like the Internet Archive, to digitise and preserve books that may otherwise be lost or destroyed. Additionally, it is one of the few online bookstores that offer a wide selection of audiobooks and ebooks.

Better World Books offers several programs to help students and libraries find the best books and then purchase them. Its library collection program offers free shipping and returns. And its textbook collection allows students to rent textbooks or purchase them for an affordable cost. It also offers a variety of educational tools for students, such as its guide to learning. Better World Books is a popular alternative to Amazon for librarians and students seeking high-quality books at a reasonable cost. It also provides a range of international titles that are sure to appeal to readers around the world.

Overstock

Overstock is an online retailer of items that are on sale such as furniture, home décor and other products. Its inventory is sourced from big-box stores that are unable to sell their items or from suppliers who are trying to sell off excess stock. It also purchases directly from manufacturers. Customers of the company can enjoy top-quality products at affordable prices.

Overstock offers many ways to shop. One of it is a mobile application that lets shoppers visualize how furniture would look in their home. It also comes with an Augmented Reality feature that lets shoppers see 3D renderings of a variety of things, such as sectional sofas and memory foam mattresses. Customers can be sure they've chosen the best product for their needs, and avoid the difficulties of returning it.

Making sure that the inventory level is correct is crucial to an online business. Insufficient stock can lead to lost sales, while excessive stock can bind capital and can prevent new products from making it to the market. A recent study by Tyco Retail Solutions found that overstock costs retailers billions dollars every year in lost revenue.

Overstocks are common, but there are ways to prevent them. One way is to use an inventory management system that enables you to monitor the level of inventory and order at the appropriate time. A ship-to-customer program can help you reduce warehouse and storage costs, as well as allowing quicker shipping and returns.

A listing tool that can automatically sync inventory across multiple channels is a different way to avoid having an overstock. For example the multichannel listing tool from Shopping Cart Elite can manage listings on Overstock and other marketplaces from a single dashboard. This tool will save you time by eliminating the need to manually enter each listing option.