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eBayโ€™s multi-million pound mission to boost social enterprise

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London, UK
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Six months into its three year program, eBay for Change is transforming the game for social enterprises working with disadvantaged communities.

The worldโ€™s largest online auction site, eBay, which already has 300,000 small businesses trading on it has created a dedicated shopfront to provide social enterprises with the chance to reach its 29 million UK userbase.

Dubbed โ€˜eBay for Change,โ€™ this multi-million pound program, backed by Social Enterprise UK and the World Fair Trade Organisation, has been growing small businesses in both revenue and expertise for the last six months.

Reaching out to its community back in February, eBay found that a third of survey respondents pointed to supporting small businesses focused on social change and equal opportunities as key to helping the nation recover from the pandemic.

For the remainder of its three year pledge, the ecommerce giant is fully committed to โ€˜building a fairer and ultimately more sustainable economy,โ€™ as eBayโ€™s UK head of social impact Chris Gale put it.


The support on offer from eBay

If you head to the websiteโ€™s โ€˜eBay for Changeโ€™ section, youโ€™ll notice an increasing number of small businesses popping up as sellers over time, and each has an inherent link to furthering equality or sustainability initiatives.

Companies onboarded by eBay are privy to zero fee hosting, one-to-one digital skills training, and even โ€˜significant marketing investmentโ€™ to increase their own visibility. Imagine receiving SEO coaching to maximise your own start-up from one of the very best in the game.

Already contributing to a circular economy by making second-hand purchases, those browsing for items in this section are simultaneously boosting businesses that are built to support disadvantaged communities.

That includes opening job training seminars for people with disabilities or learning difficulties, tackling social issues like homelessness and negative mental health, and battling environmental waste, among countless other causes.

โ€˜With eBay for Change, customers will receive a great product, as well as the satisfaction that the proceeds from their purchase will make a real difference and support communities,โ€™ Gale added.

The timing of such a big undertaking couldnโ€™t be better for eBay. Social enterprise has seen massive financial growth over the last few years, accounting for more than 2 million new jobs and a surplus of ยฃ60bn to the UK economy.

Beyond its own in-house ventures, eBay has also partnered with UnLtd to create a dedicated social enterprise ecommerce program which will assist the businesses of early-stage entrepreneurs.

In the first year of this program, 100 burgeoning business owners will receive tutoring and financial support to increase their impact within their own social change niche.


Why such initiatives are so valuable

When it comes to modern ecommerce, failing to hit on an element of social responsibility within both business and marketing will most likely harm a brandโ€™s image. Itโ€™s safe to say eBay definitely understands this.

Weโ€™re in an age of conscious consumerism where peopleโ€™s purchases more often than not reflect their social values in some way.

An internal survey by eBay back in May suggested as much, revealing that 81% of its own respondents had drastically altered their spending habits amid the pandemic.

Holding more than 25% of all spending power, Gen Z spenders in particular abide by this principle and are largely responsible for the recent elevation of peer-to-peer marketplaces. In that sense, itโ€™s impressive that after 25 years in the business, eBay isnโ€™t even close to being out of touch.

The value in what eBay is striving for is there for all to see.

Many companies who offer no real value within social change will continue to push greenwashing gimmicks and ride the coattails of prominent movements for brand awareness, but those making a genuine difference arenโ€™t hard to spot.

Chiefly, in the case of eBay, the company isnโ€™t straying from what itโ€™s actually good at in order to arbitrarily tick any boxes.

On the contrary, itโ€™s imparting expert knowledge in the nuances of ecommerce as one of the biggest mainstays in the industry for over two decades, while providing burgeoning start-ups with the chance to maximise their own social impact.

The California-based giant is now operating in over 190 markets and has upwards of 185 million buyers on its network. Remarkably, one in four UK online shoppers is said to have made a purchase on the site over the Christmas period in 2020.

Suffice to say, when it comes to pushing social enterprise as a force for positive change in ecommerce, weโ€™re in pretty good hands with eBay.

Senior Writer London, UK

I’m Jamie (He/Him), the Editor in Chief at Thred. Keeping up with gaming and revolutionary technology is my forte, but when away from my keyboard, you’ll probably find me wrapped around a large Tango ice blast at the latest mediocre horror flick. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback viaย email.

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