According to Statista, 40 percent of internet users in the United States make more than one online purchase per month, and 20 percent make online purchases on a weekly basis. This aligns with Cyber Monday’s growth as the largest online shopping day of the year. Nonprofit organization Goodwill Industries International is taking advantage of Cyber Monday 2018 by offering a variety of deals on its website.
Goodwill customers can shop for deals in more than 2,000 categories, including fashion and apparel, electronics, home appliances, toys, jewelry, antique and collectible items, and musical instruments. Customers who shop on Goodwill’s website support the organization’s efforts to provide job placement, training, and education opportunities to people in local communities.
Shopgoodwill.com, the only nonprofit auction site in existence, was designed with Goodwill’s mission of helping people find jobs and build careers in mind. The site, which was first developed in 1999, has generated more than $212 million since its inception to provide career and community-based services to people with disabilities and disadvantages, those who lack education or job experience, and others facing challenges to finding employment.
Just as the local stores do, shopgoodwill.com uses more than 87 percent of the revenue earned to provide employment and job training opportunities to people in local communities. Last year alone, Goodwill shoppers helped place 288,000 people into career-advancing opportunities.
Shopping on shopgoodwill.com is free and user-friendly. More than 1.6 million registered users from all 50 states and many other countries browse, bid, and buy on the auction site, where they have access to more than 200,000 donated items at any given time, plus the luxury of negotiating prices via auction. Shoppers can sort items by seller and browse locally available inventory.
Through Cyber Monday, shoppers will have access to more than 2,500 deals that have been listed for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotion as well as penny shipping, no handling fees, and the option to immediately purchase listed items.
“Shopgoodwill.com is just one way Goodwill uses technology to benefit its mission,” says Ryan Smith, Senior Director of Online Operations for Goodwill. “The site provides a unique global shopping experience to more than four million consumers per month, which generates revenue to enable people to find employment and care for their families in communities nationwide.”
He adds, “Items are collected from 125 local Goodwill organizations and auctioned to consumers. Additionally, the site provides opportunities for program participants to have operational jobs that are mission integrated while learning new skills, such as photography, customer services and technology, including web forms, listing and shipping, and processing, stocking and fulfillment systems.”