MadeBy - Love the Origin

Small businesses, particularly global artisans, are heavily disrupted by Covid, highlighting the already acute need to compete online on a fraction of the budget, often lacking the right skills to benefit from digital commerce. 

MadeBy is a digital storytelling platform that plugs into all existing ecommerce and social selling platforms and empowers artisans and small businesses to tell their own story, connecting with consumers deeply and educating them on skills, craftsmanship, traditions and ethics of their products, while plugging the gap between them and the potential of digital commerce 

Post Covid, we have an opportunity to help artisans flourish, improve local economies and create more resilient communities, enabling them to access the potential of digital commerce. We have the chance to reshape the way we buy, bringing back human values back to create a more responsible form of consumerism, that places people and the environment at the heart. 

The artisan sector is the second-largest employer in the developing world after agriculture. Hundreds of thousands of people globally, particularly women, participate in it, largely working from home. Artisan activity creates jobs, increases local incomes, and preserves ancient cultural traditions that in many places are at risk of being lost.

They often are productive backbone of communities. At a global level, the handicrafts market was worth US$ 583.4bn n in 2018 and is set to reach US$ 1091.2bn by 2024, influenced by burgeoning ecommerce sector.

Yet artisan businesses are rarely recognized as drivers of economic growth. They lack access to tools and resources needed to succeed in the global marketplace: they often work in isolated environments, without business skills, market access, and the financial tools needed. They lack access to digital skills and tools that allow them to tell their stories and those of their products effectively. 

At the same time, the world is starting to realise that we cannot carry on mindlessly consuming at the same rate as we have done, and that sustainable, slow and responsible modes of production, which artisans and indigenous communities have long practiced, are the only just way forward for people and planet.

Stories are powerful and are a pathway to human connection: our platform is a place for those stories be told, creating a space for deep connection and knowledge sharing between makers, consumers, and the environment. This connection means that makers can be respected for their skills and humanity, and our collective need for living in harmony and protect the earth can be recognised. 

MadeBy is a digital discovery and storytelling platform that empowers independent makers, artisans, craftspeople and small brands to tell their story with their own words in a powerful way, connecting with consumers deeply and educating them on the skills, craftsmanship, traditions and ethics of their products. 

For artisans and small businesses; a mobile-driven ecommerce integration solution to create digital storytelling experiences about themselves and each of their products for a deep connection with their consumers, allowing them to reach additional markets online; and a digital learning platform that offers knowledge and tools required to access the benefits of ecommerce

For the mindful consumer; a discovery platform to explore brands, crafts, artisans, and techniques, informing the buyers choice by providing transparent information about people and products. 

MadeBy serves the global artisan community, particularly women artisan in developing countries by providing the tools and skills they need to share their products with global consumers and retailers, and be fairly remunerated.

I have worked with global artisans for over 10 years and deeply understand the barriers that come between their craft and the potential of digital commerce to positively impact their lives through equitable access and fair remuneration. The fully mobile-driven platform backend is designed with and for artisans, accounting for low level of digital literacy and access. As the functionality evolves, we are developing each component with our artisan partners, however this has been slowed down due to Covid. 

MadeBy reshapes the way we buy; bringing human values back and reconnecting people to the things we consume. 

People: For all artisans to be valued, recognised and respected. 

Process: For skills and crafts integral to traditional cultures to be kept alive 

Planet: For a restored and harmonious relationship with our world. 

Expected outcomes:

• 20% increase in enquires within the first month of creating a full profile, 
• Increase in awareness, recall, reviews. 
• Increase in referrals from retailers and wholesalers as they differentiate their supply chain and source more responsibly

Digital literacy and access to digital tools are vital in a changing job market, the need for which has been vastly accelerated by Covid. 

For artisans and small businesses in developing countries to access and benefit from growing ecommerce opportunities, they must be equipped with the right tools needed to participate and thrive. Artisans have a powerful tool in their hands, their mobile, and this can become a gateway to the global economy while putting the right value for people, cultures and the environment at the heart. Economic access and empowerment create resilient communities and ensure their voice is heard. 

MadeBy uses existing technology in an innovative way. It is not an ecommerce or social selling platform and does not seek to compete with those, it offers a complementary solution that plugs into any existing platform to add a storytelling and transparency dimension to ecommerce. 

It will also provide the training and skills required for artisans to utilise technology available to them. 

Finally by logging products and materials the platform will allow life-cycle tracking and in future will provide a tool to enable the circular economy 

The platform is still in prototype stage, so we haven't developed all features yet. Here is a brief overview 

• Mobile driven, artisans are able to input data entirely from their mobile phone
• Can use speech to text/text to speech to address challenges with literacy, as well as chatbots 
• AI and machine learning to optimise data and visuals
• Blockchain to transparently track products, materials and makers
• APIs into ecommerce and social selling platforms 
• Crowdsourced knowledge and peer to peer exchange to solve common challenges 
• Potential to use augmented reality to deliver training and enrich storytelling
• Potential to integrate mobile money to allow unbanked artisans to receive mobile payments 

All of the technologies we seek to use are available at different stages of maturity and have proven track record of delivering success, however they have not so far been used effectively in service of the audience we are aiming to serve. 

We are levelling the playing field for global artisans so they are able access the knowledge and tools they need, within their context, to offer them a chance to participate in the global economy in a fair and equitable way. 

Also, while this is less of a technology consideration, another desired outcome of the solution is to help preserve and share traditional and indigenous crafts in a respectful way that benefits the creators and ancestral guardians of those crafts.