The Shop for Change is an online marketplace with a mission for social change.
We enable disadvantaged sellers throughout the world to start selling online – sustainably growing their livelihoods.
The Shop for Change gives buyers an opportunity to connect, communicate and buy unique products online, direct from disadvantaged sellers.
The Shop for Change enables disadvantaged sellers to easily setup and manage an online store, in order to expand their access to markets, allowing their business to grow sustainably with the support of socially conscious buyers.
The Shop for Change is a shop for the real world, where transparency is paramount and social empowerment is the goal, as the majority of profits go to disadvantaged sellers – those struggling to access basic human rights.
Social impact
The Shop for Change is built with an agenda for change. Sellers are required to ensure the majority of profits go to support a disadvantaged person or group1, those struggling to access basic human rights.
With sales directly benefiting a social need, our financial growth is proportional to social investment. A nominal 5% of the sale price goes towards the ongoing development of the website, thus enabling up to 95% of the sale price to be returned to those who need it most. Sellers complete a qualitative survey to establish their level of disadvantage – how they experience a lack of access to basic human rights. In order to sell on The Shop for Change, sellers are required to meet eligibility criteria, basic operational requirements and specify social impacts affected when they make an income:
Our sellers ensure that more than 50% of profits directly contribute to one or more of the following social impacts:
- Reduce poverty & hunger
- Increasing access to education
- Gender equality & empowerment of women
- Increasing access to child health
- Increasing access to maternal health
- Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Increasing access to safe drinking water
1We consider those 'at a disadvantage' to be facing social or economic deprivation, with limited access to food, water, education or health care. These descriptions may fit the seller, or the person or group who benefits from their profits. Please note that the evaluation of disadvantage can be complex and The Shop for Change can assess seller eligibility on an individual basis.
The problem
Billions of people struggle to access basic human rights and continue to live in poverty. Amongst them are many skilled artisans and producers who simply don’t have access to wide enough markets to earn an income that would allow them to break their cycle of poverty. Others may have an unsustainable reliance on well-meaning NGOs to distribute their products to wider markets.
The solution
The Shop for Change is a scalable online marketplace that is centred around social change. As a for-profit social enterprise, we enable disadvantaged sellers throughout the world to leverage the online channel. Our financial growth is proportional to social investment: The sales mark-up is a nominal 5%, enabling an optimal 95% of sales to be delivered to those who need it most.
Technology
Innovative design and technology create an opportunity to empower buyers and sellers, as trade is made possible across geographic and socio-economic barriers.
The Shop for Change is a marketplace leveraging the most dynamic and accessible commerce network tool – the internet. With internet access prolific in developed nations, growing rapidly in developing nations and visions like blanketing Africa with free Wi-Fi, we will be able to reach an abundance of disadvantaged sellers today and many more tomorrow.
Get involved!
With the support of individuals and organisations, we can grow to support thousands of disadvantaged communities.
Do you like what we're doing? Perhaps you can contribute!