DISCUSSION
Chrome extension shows Goodwill to shoppers, not to Amazon or Walmart
Written by RetailWire Staff
Photo: Getty Images
A new browser add-on will let visitors to Amazon or Walmart’s websites know if they can get a better deal on a second-hand version of the product they’re searching for at Goodwill.
Goodwill’s new Chrome extension, created in partnership with Price.com, pops up a browser alert if a product that shoppers are looking at on Amazon or Jet.com is also available on the Goodwill website, according to Bloomberg. The extension also provides a link allowing the customer to purchase the product from Goodwill. In its initial iteration, the extension will only search the inventory of Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, which gets six million website visitors a month.
Bloomberg’s demo of the extension found the selection to be spotty, but the non-profit thrift store does foresee the extension someday searching the inventory of other Goodwill locations nationwide and thus providing more hits.
Such a strategy might seem to run the risk of hijacking sales not just from other e-commerce sites, but from Goodwill stores themselves. The chain, however, does not report being concerned about draining the good finds from its existing locations or discouraging customers from visiting the chain’s locations. Goodwill has more than 2,800 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Even if the charity thrift store isn’t typically seen as competing with today’s tech and retail giants, Goodwill has made moves to revamp itself for the new retail landscape and the Millennial thrift shopper.
The non-profit chain began opening high-end vintage stores under the “Curated By Goodwill” moniker, as reported last year on Racked. The boutique store locations, in places like Manhattan’s Upper West Side, bring in products donated to other Goodwill locations that would appeal to high-end vintage shoppers, competing with urban mainstays like Beacon’s Closet.
Anecdotes across the internet also testify to increasing prices at the thrift store, once known for its bargain basement appeal. In fact, customer demands led the chain to spin off a new store concept, called Simply Goodwill, in 2017. Simply Goodwill harkens back to the no-frills, ultra-low-price thrifting experience the chain is known for.