Does E-Commerce Help Farmers’ Markets? Measuring the Impact of MarketMaker

MarketMaker is one of the most extensive collections of electronic searchable food industry related data engines in the country with over 17,500 profiles of food related enterprises, including more than 7,600 agricultural producers and 1,295 farmers markets. This study examined the impact of MarketMaker on participating farmers’ markets. Our findings indicate that about half of the farmers markets have experienced benefits from their participation in the form of new contacts, new customers and vendors, and increase in sales. Through the analysis of factors that affect the increase in farmers’ markets sales due to MarketMaker we identified that the components needed for the more successful use of MarketMaker include an established MarketMaker program, an established farmers’ market and an active user-manager.