Regalos Artesanales Ambiente Mexicano

Norma Elizabeth Hernández Castro is proud of her family’s indigenous roots, which include the heritage of the Cora and Náhua people. But growing up, she learned first-hand that communities like hers were not fairly compensated for the time they spent making traditional art, a key part of their customs and identity.

Driven by childhood memories — and determined to help local artisans get a better deal — in 2010 she established Regalos Artesanales Ambiente Mexicano, a business which sells everything from brightly painted and patterned alebrije folk art sculptures of fantasy creatures, to traditional toys and sweets. Sourcing items mostly from the states of Oaxaca and Nayarit, the brand has a storefront in Mexico City, but its website drives business — extending the reach and sales of Norma’s thoughtfully curated products across Mexico and as far away as France and Australia.

While Regalos Artesanales Ambiente Mexicano’s website allows customers to see their offerings in one place, it does not allow for immediate, human conversation which Norma says really helps close sales. So, in June 2019, she downloaded the WhatsApp Business app to professionalize her service and drive more customers to the website.

“Through WhatApp Business, we have been able to close and secure more sales with people who tend to be indecisive,” says Norma, explaining that since installing the app, the number of interactions on her brand’s website have grown by nearly 800 per month.

While the app’s away messages feature is Norma’s favorite tool, her team uses quick replies to send clients links to products, payment information and requests to rate their experience.

“Quick replies shorten our response time. Our clients are often corporations who get impatient; they like that we respond rapidly. The quick replies [feature] helps us increase sales and reduces abandonment of the [online] shopping cart, ” she says.

Norma dreams of exporting large volumes of Mexican-made handicrafts. And with the support of the WhatsApp Business app, Regalos Artesanales Ambiente Mexicano is raising the profile of the people who make them and how much their traditional skills are really worth. With this as her starting point, Norma can have more confidence that communities like hers will produce national treasures well into the future, for a price everyone can be proud of.