2023 year-in-review · Figures · Sectors · Lessons learned
2023 in merch: workshop year-in-review
The summary of the year 2023 in workshop operation: pieces produced, sectors served, plazas covered, printing methods most used, regulatory compliance and the operational lessons we carried into the following year. Looking back helps explain why we operate the way we do today.
2023 figures
During 2023 we delivered one hundred and two thousand pieces to eighty-seven corporate clients. Revenue grew twenty-five per cent against 2022. Average ticket per programme stood at two hundred and ten thousand MXN before VAT, with a range from fifteen thousand MXN on exploratory programmes to three million two hundred thousand MXN on multi-site programmes with quarterly calendars. The percentage of orders delivered on time landed at ninety-four point five; late deliveries concentrated on events with restrictive venue logistics.
The percentage of non-conformities reported by customers was one point three per cent of total pieces delivered. Each non-conformance was documented with 8D format or equivalent and closed with verified corrective action. Non-conformance traceability is kept for at least three years for audit purposes. The operation grew year-on-year with the addition of four enterprise clients on annual programmes.
Sectors served in 2023
The five sectors with the highest revenue during 2023 were IMMEX manufacturing with twenty-four per cent of total, banking and financial services with twenty per cent, mass consumer with seventeen per cent, hospitality and tourism with fourteen per cent, and government and public sector agencies with twelve. The remaining thirteen per cent was distributed among fintech, higher education, technology companies, industry associations and special projects.
The sector with the strongest growth against 2022 was fintech at fifty-two per cent, driven by mass onboarding programmes in CDMX and Guadalajara. The sector with the strongest stability was government with recurring tenders and fixed calendars. CFDI 4.0 invoicing was impeccable — no SAT or customer internal audit observations during the year.
Plazas covered in 2023
Operation concentrated in six plazas: CDMX with thirty-two per cent of deliveries, Monterrey with nineteen per cent, Guadalajara with fifteen per cent, Querétaro with ten per cent, Mérida with eight per cent and Puebla with five per cent. The remaining eleven per cent corresponded to point deliveries in Tijuana, León, Cancún, Veracruz, Cuernavaca, San Luis Potosí and Chihuahua.
Direct operational coverage in CDMX, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro and Mérida was maintained with local staff and delivery fleet. Deliveries to secondary plazas ran with national logistics operators with agreed SLA and real-time tracking. Average delivery stood at six business days with a variance of two to ten days per plaza and product type.
Printing methods in 2023
Distribution by printing method: screen printing forty-six per cent of total customised pieces, embroidery thirty per cent, sublimation ten per cent, digital transfer five per cent, laser engraving six per cent, and DTF three per cent. Screen printing dominated by unit cost on large runs; embroidery by presentation on polos and jackets; sublimation by sports and recognition pieces; laser engraving by premium and high-value pieces.
The strongest growth against 2022 was DTF at two hundred per cent, starting from a low base but with growing adoption on programmes with photography personalisation. The second strongest was laser engraving at thirty-five per cent, driven by premium piece demand from financial and consumer sectors.
Regulatory compliance in 2023
One hundred per cent of textiles delivered complied with NOM-004-SCFI-2006 on labelling. One hundred per cent of electrical items complied with NOM-024-SCFI-2013 on commercial information, and those connected to mains additionally complied with NOM-003-SCFI-2014 on safety. One hundred per cent of beverage kits complied with NOM-141-SSA1-SCFI-2012 with verification of the authorised producer documentation.
Invoicing was issued one hundred per cent under CFDI 4.0 with payment complement where applicable. We had no customer internal audit observations or SAT observations during 2023. The Carta Porte was issued on the percentage of shipments with logistics operators that required the receipt. Lot-level traceability was kept for three years for audit purposes.
Events served in 2023
During 2023 we served twenty-eight in-person events at venues, including international fairs, industry congresses, Mexico-US binational forums under USMCA, product launches, corporate anniversaries and recruitment fairs. Each event had a local lead coordinating with the venue dock window, the on-site consignee and the signed delivery receipt.
Events with multi-audience kits — staff, press, VIP and speaking — had a single programme lead coordinating audience separation and delivery with correct name and company. The distribution error rate at events landed at zero point three per cent. Invoicing broke down per event and product line.
Six lessons for 2024
One: short runs with full-colour personalisation migrate from traditional screen printing to DTF and sublimation — we started evaluating DTF capacity addition. Two: lot-level traceability becomes a requirement from the brief, not only at delivery — we strengthened the record from raw material intake. Three: the IMMEX regime requires the right pedimento from the start — we strengthened the integration with the customer's foreign trade area.
Four: CFDI 4.0 invoicing with payment complement becomes standard across all clients — we maintain continuous SAT updates. Five: audience-based bundling with differentiated composition gains ground over the single kit — we added pre-built bundling templates for the most frequent use cases. Six: delivery with plant staff and scheduled appointment beats conventional shipping — we started evaluating the expansion of in-house delivery staff.
Talk to us about 2026
If your corporate is planning the 2026 merch programme and wants to ground it in what was learned during 2023 and the years since, let's talk. We deliver a forty-five-minute discovery session with no commitment.
The 2023 summary is a retrospective observation of the workshop. Operating figures are representative of the year and are delivered to the customer in their programme log. Corp-Merch.MX is a Mexican workshop for corporate merch; we operate independently.