MERCADO GLOBAL New York, United States & Panajachel, Guatemala
In 2009, five years into its existence as a nonprofit supporting Guatemalan women weavers through employment in accessories’ production, Mercado Global began to build an in-house design team. The move was prompted by pressure from competitors. “In the wake of the recession, the market for the more–or what the market considers to be–traditional products (what artisans had been selling to tourists), was disappearing,” says Ruth DeGolia, Mercado’s Co-Founder and Executive Director. “There were changes in consumer trends and demand, and there was increased competition from factories in Southeast Asia and China making similar products.” Many other Latin American artisan organizations were feeling the squeeze. They could no longer hope to compete on price. Those that successfully adapted to the market changes increased “product quality and design,” explains DeGolia. The creation of an in-house design team “allowed us to access mainstream retailers ... in a way that, at the time, few artisan groups were able to successfully.” The shift didn’t happen overnight. A multiyear, strategic partnership with the Levi Strauss Foundation, and later the Levi’s brand, resulted in a design program and product catalog that would inform the inhouse design team’s work. “We were able to scale with [Levi’s], and in the process work through our supply chain.” The success of
the partnership–enabled by increasing the focus on “our quality control and being able to deliver orders on time”–provided Mercado with a pivotal proof point to take to other retailers. Their model now relies on not only building major retail partnerships, but on forging inventive strategic partnerships. “We work with factories in Guatemala City and Mexico that stock and subsidize leather for us, and provide [material training], says DeGolia. “But the only way a retail partnership is durable and scalable is if it’s financially successful for the retailer.” Sales have grown in the last few years, as much as 60% year-to-year. While Mercado has managed to partner with an impressive array of retailers, social impact measurement ensures that sales growth translates into increased opportunity and prosperity for women artisans, and steps toward the ultimate goal of “poverty alleviation.” “First, we run ourselves internally like a business,” says DeGolia. “We have our top three strategic goals across multiple years, annual top strategic goals, and goals by department.” Progress is tracked by a series of dashboards that display KPIs (key performance indicators). Some indicators are tracked monthly or quarterly, while others are tracked on an annual or biennial basis. All of the departmental dashboards “roll up” into a organization-wide dashboard. 3