Why people first retail matters in the charity sector – reflecting on the 2023 Charity Retail Conference
The Shopiago team were delighted to return as headline sponsors to the 2023 Charity Retail Conference in Harrogate. Bringing together existing and new partners alike, the collaboration in the sector and knowledge sharing was ever-present at a fantastic event.
In line with this year’s conference theme, ‘People first retail’ we asked Chris Davies, Ecommerce Manager from our charity partner, Prospect Hospice, to join us in a collaborative session. Following the recent publication of Prospect Hospice’s case study using Shopiago which drove a 118% increase in online items sold between 2022 and 2023, we wanted to amplify and share the learnings from Prospect Hospice’s success story.
We also launched our brand-new Recommerce Round Up Report for 2023 – an essential guide to help charity retailers navigate the world of online sales here.
‘Selling online – is it worth it?’ was the primary topic of conversation in our session, where Diana Ungureanu, Operations Manager and Josh Bentham, Head of B2B Customer Success at Shopiago alongside Chris shared top tips. With a full house, the engagement was clear across the room with many questions directed to Chris and the team around driving volunteer recruitment, marketplaces and listing products to help charities achieve revenue success.
Following this, we hosted cocktails and mocktails at our Shopiago stand and the team were delighted to see so many providers, recycling merchants, clients and new prospects joining together in conversations to discuss the importance of online selling, removing stock in a sustainable way and debating best practices on how to drive revenue for charities.
We later joined many others in a gala dinner evening (which had record-breaking numbers) spotlighting many heroes of the sector, including the deserved volunteers. The Shopiago team were proud to be nominated alongside our client partners DEBRA, within the technology category. The DEBRA team, through their hard work and dedication, have successfully grown their online sales from just £1,000 a month to over £20,000 using Shopiago to raise vital funds for their charity.
Day two followed a similar trend, driven by the pride of the evening prior and reminding everyone in attendance of the transformative work within the charity sector and the impact this has. The Shopiago team are already looking forward to the next event, shining a spotlight on the deserving volunteers, change makers and innovators alike.
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If you didn’t have a chance to catch up with us at the conference or visit our stand, you can contact our team here to have an open discussion about your recommerce operations