Since its launch in 2019, we’ve seen millions of donations processed via Giving, our donations at checkout product. Among the donations trends we've seen over the years is what a strong brand-nonprofit affinity can do to generate funds.
Customers respond to stories. (It’s why we’re telling you this one). So when they encounter a cause at checkout that directly correlates with the brand they’re buying from - they understand the connection and are more likely to donate. The logic is simple: they trust the partnership, and if they have the means, want to get involved too.
Case in point: a lingerie brand supporting Breast Cancer awareness - a cause uniquely connected to their business and customers.
A meaningful brand partnership
French lingerie brand Etam activated Giving for the month of October to align with French cancer awareness campaign Octobre Rose, one of their annual charitable activities. Once an Adyen customer decides to support a good cause at checkout, they either choose from one of the existing nonprofits in our library, or we onboard their preferred nonprofit partner. This year, Etam wanted to fundraise for Breast Cancer Research nonprofit, Ruban Rose, which was onboarded to the platform in advance of the campaign so we could seamlessly(and compliantly) process donations on their behalf.
Like Etam, Adyen participates in a number of CSR initiatives over the course of the year. One such program, called Moments that Matter, sees Adyen match donations for certain causes made via Giving. In 2023, we matched in times of emergency, and for Earth Day and Pride. A campaign had been established to support cancer awareness whereby all funds raised for cancer-related causes via Giving during October would be matched. Etam was doing matching of their own - which meant that every donation made in an Etam store was tripled.
Etam customers responded to the campaign in unprecedented numbers during the month. More than 54,000 customers contributed at point-of-sale in France.
Etam: a history of supporting women
Beyond product offerings like skin-tone adaptable lingerie, inclusive sizing, period products, gender-neutral collections, maternity bras, and post-mastectomy bras - Etam has been supporting women for over 100 years in every aspect of their lives. In addition to products, the brand engages in charitable initiatives in close collaboration with grassroots organizations.
“In partnership with Solidarités Femmes since 2018, we have worked a lot for the right to freedom, the fight against domestic violence and help for women in need,” explains Céline Wargnier, Retail Marketing Director for Etam. All year round, all profits linked to the purchase of gift bags in store are, for example, donated to Solidarités Femmes. The brand also celebrates International Women's Day, every year, and when the brand launched its line of period panties, it collaborated with associations working to improve access to feminine hygiene and raise awareness among young people. As these examples show, Etam engages in various ways to bring its cause-focused CSR strategy to life.
"All our actions are connected to a commitment to women. For each issue, we think about the best activation lever. Needs can be financial or can be related to products. When it's a national cause capable of raising awareness, we try to have the widest possible activation," says Wargnier.
For a national cause like October Rose, Etam wanted to launch a large-scale operation by organizing donations in-store and online. "When we want to raise money, donations at the cash register are particularly effective," emphasizes the Marketing Director.
One simple change in checkout: a powerful way to raise funds
“It’s the small streams that make big rivers.” When it comes to charitable operations, this adage has never been more true - every little helps.
Checkout donations have long been associated with Etam's nonprofit strategy. The brand has used this approach on several occasions since 2015 but had not found the right partner to make this type of activation sustainable until now.
Convinced of the power of round-up, the brand had devised a homemade solution to offer donations at the time of payment. "The very first round-up campaigns were extremely successful. But for the past two years, we've seen our campaign figures decline significantly in-store," recalls Wargnier.
What happens when donations are not integrated at checkout?
With Etam's homemade solution, sales associates had to verbally offer each customer the opportunity to make a donation at the time of payment. Following the explanation, you could enter a donation line with the desired amount or round up to the nearest euro. Then, you would be asked to pay. "The in-house solution together with the sales pitch proved clunky, so we wanted to systematize the possibility of making a donation by integrating it automatically on the POS," details Wargnier. The integration would require a new donations partner.
The solution change for donations had two objectives:
Improve and optimize the performance of donation campaigns, returning to an integrated system.
Relieve store teams of the responsibility to verbalize the concept of the donation, which they had to repeat for each transaction.
To achieve this, all the Etam team had to do was activate Giving, knowing also that 100% of every donation would make it straight to the nonprofit, with no interchange or scheme fees charged for Giving transactions. Ultimately: a no-brainer.
Etam for Breast Cancer awareness: A resounding success
Etam used Giving for the first time throughout France during the October Rose campaign in 2023, and the results exceeded all expectations.
The participation rate at checkout was 14%, which is double the average for retail. Participation rates for the retail sector on the platform typically come in between 5-7%.
The customer response took the Etam team by surprise because of the two-transaction logic with Giving - where the donation prompt appears after the customer has paid (rather than beforehand). "(The success) was not a given!" confides Serge Fraguas, Cash Application Manager. "Adyen's approach, where the donation occurs as a second step after payment, seemed counterintuitive to us. We feared that once their purchase was settled, customers would not want to make another transaction to make a donation. But the first tests in-store showed us the opposite." Despite Etam's initial skepticism, the post-payment donation approach proved successful.
With Giving, sales associates no longer need to persuade customers to donate with every sale. However, all teams are aware of the work of the supported cause to be able to answer any customer questions. In terms of communication, Etam promoted the operation through A5 signage at checkout, in addition to the message displayed on the POS screen. "We are very satisfied with the centralized management of the flows and the fact that Adyen takes care of directly transferring the funds to the nonprofit. Certainly, this collaboration with Adyen has a sustainable future," says Wargnier.
The same sentiment is shared by the IT department, which appreciated the ease of implementing the feature and the consideration of the specific needs of the brand. 'We worked hand in hand with Adyen's Impact team, who were very attentive to what we wanted to achieve in the future, to improve the technical process. Everything was turnkey, it was a technical delight. For the next October Rose, we'll be here, and the process will be completely autonomous, without involving the IT department,' rejoices Fraguas.
Are you also looking to make a big impact through a small change in checkout? Contact our account managers to activate Giving.
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