Amazon, Enterprise Nation, Direct Line for Business and Square are partnering to open 10 Clicks and Mortar pop-up shops in cities across the UK, with the first shop opened at St Mary’s Gate in central Manchester, yesterday. This will be followed by the opening of Clicks and Mortar pop-up shops in Wales, Scotland, the Midlands, Yorkshire and across the South East.
The Clicks and Mortar pop-up shops will provide customers the opportunity to discover and buy directly from over 100 small businesses – everything from home ware and health and beauty products to food and drink and electronics. The up-and-coming brands have all built successful online businesses and now want to explore physical retail for the first time.
Emma Jones MBE, Founder of Enterprise Nation, said: “UK shoppers like to shop both online and in high street stores, and our intention is to help small businesses succeed by combining the best elements of online and high street retail,” , which supports over 90,000 of Britain’s small businesses. “This new concept will provide small businesses with the space, technology and support to experience physical retail for the first time, while enabling customers to discover new brands on their local high streets.
Doug Gurr, UK Country Manager at Amazon, said: “Small businesses are one of our most important customer groups, and we’re thrilled to work with Enterprise Nation to design a comprehensive package to help entrepreneurs across the UK grow their businesses, both in-store and online. From giving up-and-coming online, British brands have the chance to experience physical retail, to funding the training of full-time apprenticeships and helping to increase SME exports. Amazon is committed to supporting the growth of small businesses – helping them boost the economy and create jobs across the UK.”
Amazon Apprenticeships
Amazon announced a new £1m Apprenticeship Fund to help small or medium-sized business (SME) selling on Amazon upskill their workforce through their own dedicated apprentices. The new investment will help create over 150 digital marketing, business administration and customer service practitioner apprentices who will work full time for SMEs selling on Amazon, to help boost their productivity, sales and exports in the digital age. Amazon will also provide specialist training on how to build a successful e-commerce business, how participating SMEs can market and advertise their products to customers and how to sell their products to a global customer base. The fund is exclusively open to any brand-owning SME registered in England that currently sells on Amazon and has a turnover of less than £1 million.
Amazon Academies
Yesterday also saw the launch of the 2019 Amazon Academy programme – a series of free events across the UK to provide hands-on, practical training to help small businesses succeed in the digital economy, in particular by growing their export sales. The first event in 2019 is taking place at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Manchester, and will include training sessions from Amazon teams along with independent business, marketing and intellectual property experts.
