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From Investment Banking to Impact: How Givz is Redefining Retail Discounting
Most ecommerce brands follow a predictable playbook: offer steep discounts during peak shopping seasons, watch customers flood in, then struggle to get them to return at full price. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Andrew Forman shared how Givz is flipping this model by replacing traditional discounts with donation incentives.
Instead of slashing prices by 50% during Black Friday, brands can offer “20% off plus 20% to give to charity,” Andrew explains. This seemingly small shift drives powerful results: “Average order value goes from 67 to 84 within a couple of weeks and it stays there for the rest of the year.”
The journey to this insight wasn’t straightforward. After six years in investment banking balanced with nonprofit work, Andrew saw firsthand how difficult it was for brands and nonprofits to collaborate effectively. But it wasn’t until H&M faced backlash over their Pride Month charitable giving that the true market opportunity emerged.
“They had done a Pride Month initiative the year before where they donated $3 million, a million dollars to three different charities,” Andrew recalls. “And they got a ton of pushback from the LGBTQ community saying, why did you choose these three charities? Why don’t you choose our charity?”
This pain point – brands wanting to do good but struggling with execution – became Givz’s entry point. Rather than forcing customers to support pre-selected causes, they built a platform that lets shoppers direct donations to charities they personally care about.
The results challenged conventional wisdom about cause marketing. “Previously it had been like, okay, 10% of sales goes to this one charity that the brand chose that the customer could, may or may not care about,” Andrew notes. “99% of the time does not care about that cause enough to really make them move or make a decision.”
But getting brands to see beyond the “charity” label proved challenging. “My nightmare scenario is, hey, I don’t have time to deal with charity stuff. I need to lift my average order value,” Andrew shares. His response? “This is the best way to lift your average order value. It just happens to do some good in the world.”
The model has proven successful across verticals – from luxury retail to CBD brands. Now Givz is expanding beyond ecommerce into broader behavioral incentives. Financial services company Betterment uses the platform to reward customers who set up recurring deposits. Jewelry stores are experimenting with QR codes that unlock charitable donations for high-value purchases.
Central to this expansion is an API-first approach. “We’re ultimately making an API driven approach that allows anybody, if you wanted to get people to post more about this podcast, right, and say, hey, anybody who posts about this podcast tags us in it, I’ll send you $5 to get to a charity of your choice,” Andrew explains.
This flexibility positions Givz to power what Andrew calls “purpose-driven marketing” – a new category that combines measurable business outcomes with meaningful social impact. By solving both technical integration challenges and regulatory compliance hurdles, they’re making it easier for brands to experiment with donation-based incentives at scale.
The early results suggest this could become a powerful alternative to traditional discounting, one that builds customer loyalty without eroding brand value. For companies looking to drive growth while making a positive impact, Givz’s approach offers a compelling roadmap.
Actionable
Takeaways
Integrate Purpose into Marketing:
Replace traditional discounts with donation incentives to increase sales and build brand loyalty.
A/B Testing for Quick Insights:
Test donation incentives against traditional discounts to quickly determine the most effective strategy.
Expand Customer Engagement:
Use donation incentives to drive higher average order values and foster long-term customer relationships.
Broaden Application:
Consider using donation incentives for non-e-commerce actions, such as banking deposits or in-store purchases, to drive desired behaviors.
Leverage Customer Testimonials:
Highlight successful campaigns and customer stories to build credibility and attract new clients through word-of-mouth referrals.
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