The newly launched Amazon Small Business Awards recognises small businesses across three categories: Small Business of the Year, Exporting Small Business of the Year, and Innovative Small Business of the Year.
Since opening its sites to smaller, independent sellers nearly 20 years ago, Amazon has been a growth engine for millions of small businesses around the world. In 2000, 3 per cent of physical gross merchandise sales on Amazon came from third-party businesses.
By 2018 this increased to 58 per cent, following years of investment in technology, infrastructure and selling tools to help them grow their business. Tens of thousands of UK-based small businesses now sell their products on Amazon’s global sites, helping to support more than 80,000 UK jobs and achieving over £2bn of export sales in 2018 alone.
In June, Amazon launched its Clicks and Mortar programme to help small businesses grow on both the high street and online. Over the course of the programme, more than 100 small online brands are being given the opportunity to test physical retail for the first time in pop-up shops around the country.
Amazon is also helping create over 150 full-time apprenticeships in small online businesses through a £1 million SME Apprenticeship Fund, while the Amazon Academy training programme, provides free digital training to help businesses to grow their sales and boost exports.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Amazon’s drive for offering customers great value, selection and convenience,” said Simon Donegan, Head of UK Seller Services, Amazon. “These awards give us the opportunity to recognise and showcase some of the most impressive small businesses in the UK, and help others learn from their successes, and we are thrilled to be able to offer the winners a trip to our global head office in Seattle.”
Life's Little recipes and pioneering bamboo-based braces for injured sports-players, Bearhug, are amongst some of the nominated businesses.
Watch the video below for the full shortlist.
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The nominees have been evaluated on a range of criteria in keeping with Amazon’s own customer obsession and dedication to offering the best available product selection and utmost convenience.
The awards aim to identify small businesses that demonstrate deep customer centricity; that offer unique products that address customer needs innovatively; and that have a truly inspiring origin and company vision.
Winners will receive six months of dedicated account management, £10,000 of Amazon advertising credit, and a trip to Amazon’s Seattle head office to meet senior business leaders.
If you are an Amazon customer with a valid Amazon.co.uk account, you can vote for your favourite nominee in each category by visiting this link.
Voting closes at 11:59pm GMT on Sunday 24th November. Good luck to all nominees.
Learn more about how Amazon are supporting small businesses.
