Amazon brings Academy business event for SMEs to Ireland for the first time

Amazon has announced that its first-ever Amazon Academy event for small businesses in Ireland will take place on Friday 6^th November 2020, providing free training and guidance to help businesses increase their online sales and reach new customers.

The virtual event aims to help entrepreneurs and SMEs grow their business online, boost their export sales, and improve the experience and services they provide customers. Businesses are invited to register for the free tickets here. More than 4,000 SMEs have attended previous Amazon Academy events to learn how to scale their business.

Amazon Academy Ireland has been created in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, Enterprise Nation, Design & Crafts Council Ireland and the Local Enterprise Office. The event will feature interviews, panel discussions and interactive Q&A sessions with Irish industry leaders, including RTE Dragon’s Den investor Alison Cowzer, successful Amazon entrepreneurs, as well as marketing, HR, accounting, IP and legal experts. They will provide a wide range of practical advice on how to grow sales and guidance on the issues facing businesses in Ireland today.

“Irish small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the economy and we’re excited to bring the Amazon Academy to Ireland for the first time to support, engage and inspire the next generation of world-class Irish entrepreneurs,” said Simon Donegan, Head of Seller Services, Amazon. “We’re looking forward to welcoming hundreds of people to our virtual event in November where they’ll meet and learn from some of Ireland’s leading business minds.”

Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland: “We are delighted to collaborate with Amazon on their first-ever Amazon Academy Ireland, designed to help Irish SMEs and entrepreneurs realise their ambitions and embrace e-commerce for growth. More than ever, consumers around the world are shopping online and there is a significant appetite from Enterprise Ireland client companies to trade online and to partner with marketplaces such as Amazon to access new customers and markets. Virtual selling is one of the key areas of focus for Enterprise Ireland client companies and we are committed to helping Irish SMEs access the range of digital marketing supports available to help grow their businesses online”. 

Emma Jones MBE, Head of Enterprise Nation: “We are looking forward to bringing the Amazon Academy to Ireland for the first time to support the growing number of small businesses across the country, helping them build a stronger online presence and expand their digital might. It’s an exciting development in Amazon’s approach to supporting smaller companies and we are looking forward to a strong, informative and inspirational event.”

Amazon Academy Ireland takes place following a recent report from Enterprise Ireland, published during International Markets Week 2020, which showed that one in three SMEs have seen their export sales decline in 2020 due to COVID-19. But despite the challenges faced by small businesses this year, many remain optimistic, with more than half (57%) of Irish SMEs expecting a brighter outlook in 2021 alongside an ambition to create new jobs, and 83% intend to hire new staff next year.

Amazon offers a suite of services to help businesses export their products and services, including providing global delivery and distribution, managing customer services in the local language and translating hundreds of millions of product listings each year on behalf of smaller businesses.

Earlier this year, Amazon announced it was creating another 1,000 permanent jobs in Ireland over the next two years. The new, highly-skilled roles will be based in locations across the company’s Cork and Dublin sites in Blanchardstown, Tallaght, the city centre, and North County Dublin, and will bring Amazon’s total permanent workforce in the country to 5,000 people over the next two years. This will help to support Ireland’s economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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