The Bookish Box is a woman-owned literary subscription box and bookish marketplace based in Arizona. They work closely with artists, authors, and publishers to curate experiences for book lovers, by book lovers. Alongside their passion for books, The Bookish Box is also dedicated to giving back.
The Bookish Box partnered with ShoppingGives to donate a portion of proceeds on every purchase to organizations that are important to their company. These causes include but are not limited to, Black Trans Nation, The Bail Project, Rainbow Railroad, and the ACLU Foundation of Arizona.
Since enabling donations on online purchases, The Bookish Box has seen that customers who have created donations on their purchases are more valuable by 201.87% compared to customers who have not created donations on purchases.
The Strategy Behind the Impact
The Bookish Box automatically donates 2% of proceeds on all purchases made from their eCommerce store. To create an impact for a variety of causes that are important to them, The Bookish Box uses the Donate to Causes You Set giving experience through ShoppingGives to split the donation evenly between their set featured causes.
In addition to the automatic donation that is pledged by The Bookish Box on every purchase, customers also have the opportunity to donate more by choosing to round-up their purchase at the checkout. Enabling round-up donations gives customers the opportunity to get involved in The Bookish Box’s giving strategy first hand while also creating more engaging purchase experiences.
Outcomes
- 201.87% increase in CLTV for customers who have generated donations on purchases compared to customers who have not.
- 35% increase in AOV for donors versus non-donors.
- 195.45% increase in retention rate.
- 372% increase in donation activation rate.
Engagement Throughout the Customer Journey
To inform their customers of their giving initiatives, The Bookish Box includes a dedicated section on the website where they explain how they give back and highlight the nonprofits that they proudly support.
To promote special giving events, The Bookish Box has used social media to inform their customers of the opportunity to make an impact with their purchase. During Pride Month, The Bookish Box donated 100% of profits from every sale of a pin from their Pride Collection to Rainbow Railroad, a pro-active global nonprofit organization that specializes in helping LGBTQI+ individuals facing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
Building Authenticity Through Social Impact
Committed to staying true to their values, The Bookish Box has supported the same portfolio of nonprofits over the past few years and have cultivated major awareness around their impact program. As a result, their donation activation rate has increased by 372% YoY.
While consumers are increasingly expecting their favorite brands to positively impact society and give back to charitable causes, many are skeptical of a brand’s authenticity when it comes to their social impact initiatives. 75% Gen Z consumers will even do research to see if a company is being honest when it takes a stand on issues.
By supporting causes that are important to their brand as part of their evergreen giving strategy, The Bookish Box is able to showcase their authentic commitment to making a positive impact. Their customers are also able to gain a better understanding of what The Bookish Box stands for.
By enabling donations on purchases to support causes that are important to their brand, The Bookish Box has seen increases in customer lifetime value (CLTV), average order value (AOV), retention rate, and donation activation rate.
"We are a book-oriented online retailer. As a small business, it can be challenging to manage perennial donations on our website. ShoppingGives is a great tool for connecting our business to the causes we love with their donation infrastructure. The app makes it easy for our site to offer store donations on purchases and round-up giving opportunities for our consumers. The best part is seeing how our customer base aligns with our impact goals as we cultivate a community of book lovers and social advocates." - Jenna Guerra, Shop Project Manager at The Bookish Box
Since partnering with ShoppingGives, The Bookish Box has been able to build authenticity around their giving initiatives by leading with their brand values. As a result, they have been able to create more meaningful and engaging customer experiences that are increasing customer lifetime value and customer retention.