The eCommerce sector has witnessed an unprecedented growth since last couple of years. The growth was driven by rapid technology adoption led by the increasing use of devices such as smartphones and tablets, and access to the internet through broadband, 3G etc. which led to an increased online consumer base.
With many companies like Motorola, Xiaomi, One-Plus etc. opting for 'Online-Only' mode via exclusive launches through e-commerce route, it is a sector that has expanded pretty fast. With the launch of Flipkart's Ping, online-shopping will no longer be a lone show and you can now involve your 'Social Connections' in the important decision of buying a particular product.
But what if could you combine Online Commerce with Social Networking for the purpose of doing something for a Social-Cause… it sounds interesting 🙂 An online venture Gudville wants to convert Online Commerce into 'Impact Commerce' by helping a Cause at no extra cost to you.
Gudville : What, Why
What is Gudville
Gudville Shopping is a way of Impact consumption that helps you support causes that you care about while you shop online. By shopping on partner stores – Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, through Gudville, you can earn Cause Donations [Wishes] and shopping vouchers [Gudville Points] everytime you shop.
The other partner stores of Gudville include Jabong, YepMe, TrendIn, Croma, Pepperfry etc. The interesting aspect about the partnership is that Gudville has ensured that it has partners across different e-commerce businesses e.g. Horizontal e-commerce like Flipkart, Snapdeal & specialized or vertical e-commerce sites like Pepperfry, TrendIn etc.
Have a look at how Gudville can create a difference through shopping as demonstrated in the video:
Gudville Shopping Buddy
Gudville plans to convert casual online-shoppers into impact shoppers by encouraging them to shop through Gudville Shopping Buddy. Gudville Shopping Buddy is a browser extension/add-on to make it easy for shoppers to make this world a better place by shopping on various partner websites.
You can download the Gudville Buddy for Chrome from here The Firefox extension can be downloaded from here
How does Gudville Shopping Buddy work
After installing Gudville buddy, you can check the list of Impact Offers on their partner websites through the add-on. Once you select an offer, you would be routed to appropriate shopping section on the chosen e-commerce partner.
Gudville Shopping Buddy accounts your online shopping to influence a donation for a non-profit organization of your choice and earn Gudville Points which can be redeemed.
Adding the Gudville Shopping Buddy does provide a 'Social Angle' to your shopping experience. We performed a dry-run by shopping on Flipkart using Gudville Shopping Buddy & the experience was seamless. The question that definitely comes to mind is "How does an NGO benefit if you shop using Gudville Shopping Buddy" ? Well, Gudville helps the non-profits to build their influencer base through various campaigns that they can run on Gudville.
Non-profits also benefit from other online consumption activities that Gudville facilitates for its supporters and influencers. Gudville Shopping is one way to influence funds for these non-profits where donation of 1% of the purchase amount goes to a non-profit when you shop online on Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal using Gudville Shopping page or Gudville Shopping Buddy
You can refer to the other details about the Gudville Shopping Buddy from here
Gudville : Non-Profit Associations
Along with 'Impact Shopping', Gudville in it's old avatar used to facilitate it's users to create their own 'Impact Campaigns' also termed as Ripple Campaigns, but now all the user needs to do is use the Gudville Shopping Buddy to Shop & create an impact [Chrome & Firefox]
Gudville has tied-up with 500+ Non-Profit organizations & it drives campaigns with/for them.
Gudville : Road Ahead
Gudville : The impact of App-Only Mode
Since Myntra decided to shutdown it's website couple of months back & decided to go 'App-Only', many e-commerce biggies also have that plan on their cards. The topic has been under constant debate & many companies are vary to take that route. But with increasing mobile penetration, arrival of 4G & reduced data rates, App Only would definitely be an important agenda for many of the e-tailers [Source – TOI].
One of the reasons cited has been 'Price Comparison' since that is not possible on mobiles [through browser add-ons]. On a similar note, we would also love to see a stand-alone Gudville mobile app that would act as an aggregator for the 'Impact-ful Offers' across it's various partner sites.
One more change that might be of interest in it's browser add-on is "to make the user aware that a particular e-commerce site is Gudville's partner & have a Gudville icon on the product page". This would result in incremental user-awareness & user-growth [something like what MakkhiChoose extension does to your online-shopping].
Gudville : Offline Partnerships
Gudville can explore offline-partnerships with CSR department of various organizations. The partnership could be for CSR programmes taken by the organization that are not designed to produce profits or directly improve the business performance.
Gudville can leverage these partnerships by awarding employees of the partner organizations or universities with 'Gudville Points' based on the impact of the CSR activity. This would create a two-way impact by converting the Employees into online, impactful shoppers & hence leveraging the use of "Social aspect of Commerce" & "Social aspect of Responsibility" 🙂
We are sure that conversion of 'Offline Shoppers to Online Shoppers' for creating grass-roots impact would be there on Gudville's agenda !!
Closing Thoughts
If you are an online shopper & want to ensure that your online-shopping affects lives of millions than download the Gudville Buddy [Chrome & Firefox]. Do share your experience in the comments section.
Earn 'Gudville' while you shop with the Gudville Shopping Buddy…
