er they be schools, sporting clubs, charities, or indeed any good cause nominated by the shopper. We are especially proud of this and believe this to be a world-first,” said Better That founder John Phillips. Like other online marketplaces, Better That takes a commission from all retailer sales on its platform, but unlike the competition, it donates up to 25 per cent, with a minimum of 10 per cent, of its net commission revenue to charities and community organisations.  The decision to donate to good causes was motivated by customer demand. According to a Clutch survey, 68 per cent of US consumers say social responsibility is an important factor in their purchasing decisions.  “Onboarding more charities and community organisations also makes good business sense,” Phillips said.  The marketplace has launched with 50 popular charities including Beyond Blue, The Leukaemia Foundation of Australia and Save the Children. Charities and community organisations can join the platform for free and are rewarded for driving customers to the site.  Discounting is out, reverse auctions are in The platform’s selection of retailers includes well known brands such as Samsung and Ecco, as well as smaller, more niche brands. They all, however, promise to sell at the same prices or less than what they sell via any other channel.  Phillips told Inside Retail there has been a strong response from the retail community so far.  “We have close to 400 retailers on board, we’ve had 100 expressing interest in the last 24 hours. We’ve got about 250,000 products at the moment,” he said. All products on the site are incorporated in one master database with the search function allowing shoppers to compare products side by side to ensure they are getting what they want.  Rather than going down the discounting route, the platform will host reverse auctions, known as Better That Drop, where shoppers compete for the best price as it drops over time, as long as stock lasts.  Phillips said it’s about bringing the fun back to online retailing by keeping shoppers on their toes. “It’s an exciting way to shop. You don’t know how much [of the product] is available. There’s always that tension, ‘if I don’t click now, I’m not going to get it’,” he explained.  It’s also a more beneficial sales tactic for the retailer, he said.   “We believe it gets an average higher yield for the retailer than fixed price discounting; [which is] a bit of a scourge because if a retailer is selling a product that’s 10 per cent off, they know that someone may have bought it at 5 per cent off. This captures all of that. They still put in the minimum they want for it but the auction will stop before it gets there.” He said it also tackles the major issue of cart abandonment in online retail, as shoppers must pre-register to take part in the auction.  Crowdfunding to drive growth E-commerce sales in Australia are continuing to climb and are projected to increase at 8 per cent a year over the next five years, according to Euromonitor International. Better Thatis targeting 0.3 per cent share of the online retailing market in Australia within that timeframe. As part of its efforts to grow the business, Better That is currently seeking private and public investors through an OnMarket Equity Crowdfunding raise.  “We’re targeting a maximum of $3 million, but we feel very confident we will be able to achieve our minimum target of $500,000,” Phillips said.  The funds raised will be used to develop software and prime the business for international expansion.  “We’re live in Australia and we’ll be live in New Zealand in two weeks. We’ve already got 40-odd New Zealand retailers signed up. “Beyond that, we’ll be expanding into the US and UK within a year. We have a quasi partner in the UK already, so it’s really about further development, further marketing and building the business.”