Clicks and Mortar to open in Cardiff featuring up and coming brands from across Wales and the UK

Amazon and small business support network Enterprise Nation have announced they are to open a Clicks and Mortar pop-up shop in Cardiff on 22 July in St David's Centre. Speaking today at the Amazon Academy in Swansea, a free event to provide hands-on, practical training to help small businesses succeed in the digital economy, Amazon confirmed the location for the next Clicks and Mortar site.

The Clicks and Mortar pop-up shops provide customers with the opportunity to discover and buy directly from over 100 small businesses - everything from homeware 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.

The year-long pilot programme will explore a new model to help online businesses experience the high street, as well as highlighting the benefits of combining in-store and online retail. An independent research consultant has been commissioned to produce a detailed analysis of the impact of the pilot, and will submit its findings to the government following the call for new ideas to inform the Future High Streets strategy.

Summer launch for Cardiff pop-up

The summer launch, set for 22 July, follows on from the first Clicks and Mortar store in Manchester, and is the second shop in the series to be opened across the UK over the next 12 months. Clicks and Mortar is a collaboration between Amazon, Enterprise Nation, Square and Direct Line for Business and the Cardiff store is in partnership with shopping centre group Intu and Land Securities.

"The launch of our first store in Manchester has demonstrated there is an appetite amongst online-only brands to test out physical retail, and that shoppers like to buy from small firms and meet them face-to-face," said Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation.

"We've already got a number of online retailers interested in trading during our six weeks in Cardiff, and we expect to hear from many more. Sellers can simply move in and start making sales.

"They are provided with a shop, payment solution, furnishings and advice on topics from visual merchandising to social media. We are trying to reduce the friction of small businesses selling on the High Street and we're delighted to be bringing the concept to Cardiff."

To apply to take part in Clicks and Mortar Cardiff, go here.

"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," said Doug Gurr, UK Country Manager, Amazon.

"From giving up-and-coming online British brands 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."

Physical retail

Since opening its stores 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 heavy 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 £2.5bn in export sales in 2018 alone.

To apply to take part in Clicks and Mortar Cardiff, go here.

About Enterprise Nation

Enterprise Nation is a small business network and business support provider. Its aim is to help people turn their good ideas into great businesses - through expert advice, events, acceleration, diagnostics and networking. Enterprise Nation was founded in 2005 by Emma Jones MBE, also co-founder of national enterprise campaign StartUp Britain. She is author of best-selling business books including Spare Room Startup, Working 5 to 9, Go Global, Start a Business for £99 and the StartUp Kit, Going for Growth. In 2018, Richard Harpin, the entrepreneur behind global home emergency repair firm Homeserve, invested in the company as part of a drive to create a 'more entrepreneurial Britain.'

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalised recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.co.uk and follow @AmazonNewsUK