Amazon Rural Academy - #hellodigital

An online Amazon Rural Academy seminar recently held in the #hellodigital suite within Highlands and Island Enterprise (HIE) in Inverness, saw business owners taking part both in person at the venue and online all over Scotland. This event was run in partnership with HIE, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International and Amazon and was an opportunity for rural SMEs to access free practical advice on growing their business online.

James Salter, Senior Category Manager from Amazon gave an overview of what they can offer businesses as a global marketplace. This included the different types of fulfilment options available from Amazon enabling the business owner to choose how they want to run things, be that from an office space or from their own home in the most rural of locations. James said “All you need is a product and a laptop and you can sell to customers all over the world”. 

Karen Riddick of fair trade e-commerce company Second Nature Online who also presented at the event, is a great example of this having started her online selling business from her B&B on the island of Islay. Karen explained how Amazon has helped her to grow her business and branch out into the multi-national selling market.

You can watch the seminar online again at: https://livestream.com/HIE/events/8428032