I recently heard about exciting and awesome start up called “elavate“ which has known brands / designers boutique. Elavate is not only a classic online store but also kind of fairy godmother who help trigger charity projects.
Elavate‘ s core goals are;
- To support new and emerging brands/designers; small businesses,
- To help solve the global water crisis.
I really love this kind of business model. Actually this business model is quite successful in the market. You know the story of TOMS Shoes and Warby Parker. The hypothesis is that we can leverage the power of e-commerce to help solve the biggest problems in the world. Apparently Elavate intends to innovate on this already proven model, mainly in two ways:
1. Many to One: The company focuses on one cause, initially the global water crisis. Within this crisis, they intend to focus even narrower, on a specific country. Customers will actually be able to see the crisis being solved which will make for a more rewarding experience. (In this point I think about how many times I want to donate to charity, but really have no idea where my money is going save the world or make someone richer :s) Moreover, Their charity partner has the ability to match dollars to projects – this means that customers will see the exact project they have helped fund! Yaayyy great!!!
2. Stories & Emotion: They wouldn’t be the first company to market emerging brands. The way they do it, however, is different. Today, many e-commerce companies simply smother customers with a steady stream of brands. While product images are compelling, they intend to tell the brand’s stories through richer media such as video. People don’t necessarily buy because of a discount – its more of an emotional sale. People buy because they want to support a small business, because they want Eco-friendly products etc.
Here are some links about these awesome guys who wants to change world!
www.elavate.me
www.facebook.com/elavateme
