The Amazon Campus Challenge aims to get higher education students involved in ecommerce and help a business not currently selling on Amazon to get started and generate sales. Teams of 2 to 5 students can register and join up as a team with a £10,000 prize on offer plus the opportunity to interview for a position working for Amazon.
After identifying a company of their choice and agreeing on a partnership, students will define and implement an ecommerce strategy for the business. To be successful, they will hone their e-commerce skills, learning how to set up a real-life business on Amazon, how to market that company’s products to customers and how to reach a global audience.
The competition runs until June 2020, when a panel of UK business leaders will choose the winning teams. Up to £28,000 is up for grabs, with the first place team set to win £10,000. The winning teams may be offered the opportunity to interview for a job at Amazon UK, subject to business requirements.
From September 2019 to June 2020, student teams will be tasked with approaching and supporting a company of their choice that has not yet set up an account to sell on Amazon. Once agreed, the students will work with the businesses to help them grow and succeed on Amazon.
The competition is open for students aged 18 and over, who are studying for an apprenticeship, bachelors or master’s degree during the 2019/2020 academic year. If you want to enter you have until the 31st of October to assemble a team but the sooner you register the sooner you can start the fun part – finding a UK based company that hasn’t previously sold their products on Amazon.
The competition proper will run from January to May 2020, when students will help their partner company set up its business on Amazon, from creating product pages to monitoring performance indicators. If needed, help set up a shipping process and respond to customer feedback and use marketing tools to boost sales. Tackling the demands of on-line sales with real customers, real competitors, and real business issues is the Amazon Campus Challenge promise.
The five top-scoring teams in the online sales phase will qualify for the finals in June at the Amazon UK head office, where they will each present their experience and sales strategy to a jury comprised of top Amazon UK executives. The winning team will receive £10,000 to share among its members. All top five teams will also be given the opportunity to interview for a role at Amazon UK!
“Unearthing and inspiring the next generation of e-commerce superstars is something we’re hugely passionate about, and it’s this passion that led to the creation of the Amazon Campus Challenge. The competition offers a great opportunity for students to test and develop their business skills in a real-life environment and I hope many students, teachers and lecturers will sign up and get involved.”
– Simon Donegan, UK Head of Seller Services, Amazon
“Students can offer so much to a small business – a fresh perspective, new ideas and, of course, additional resource. There are 340,000 students studying business in the UK and 36 business schools that are recognised through the Small Business Charter for supporting small businesses and student enterprise. The Amazon Campus Challenge is a wonderful opportunity for these students to further apply and develop their skills in real-world business settings, which for many is a core element of their degree course.”
– Anne Kiem, Executive Director, Small Business Charter
One Response
Selling on Amazon does not exactly qualify as an e-commerce strategy, more of a part of a strategy. Putting all your on-line eggs in Amazon’s basket is going to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.