Aquitude has partnered with ThinkSmart Bahrain to develop the Bahrain Ecommerce Academy.
The program was recently announced by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism as a first for the region – to equip entrepreneurs and traditional businesses with the skills to compete in a global, digital economy powered by digital business models.
Local businesses will be able to get the support of “Tamkeen” to enrol their people in courses that include ‘Mastering eCommerce Master class’, ‘Mastering eCommerce Marketplaces’, ‘Internet Marketing Associate Training’ as well as ‘Mastering Digital Marketing’.
Christina Ioannidis, CEO of Aquitude said:
We are delighted to be powering the Bahrain Ecommerce Academy, alongside ThinkSmart and the Ministry of Commerce, to deliver the latest strategies and techniques to fuel Bahrain’s digital entrepreneurs. We are confident that these 4 programmes will give budding, and existing, entrepreneurial ventures new, cutting-edge approaches to successful e-commerce. ‘
It’s not just companies that need to adapt to new business realities – whole economies are looking to change to remain competitive. This is especially true in the GCC region where governments are looking to diversify their economies so that they are less reliant on oil and other natural resources.
The program of courses are designed specifically for the region, taking into account some of the challenges and quirks of doing Ecommerce in the GCC.
David Fuller, Head of Digital for Aquitude said:
Many software vendors don’t understand this part of the world – they think that everywhere is the same as San Francisco or London or Melbourne.
Creating a UI / UX that works in Arabic, which is a right to left language is not as simple as flipping the design. Many of the payment options available around the world like PayPal or Stripe don’t work well and there are local payment methods like SADAT and KNET. Fulfilment is a challenge too – many countries do not have a post-code or address system.
We have designed the Ecommerce and the Marketing courses to reflect how local consumers buy, how they consume social media and how the omnichannel commerce ecosystem works in reality on the ground in places like Bahrain.
The Bahrain Ecommerce Academy will be officially launched at an event in Manama on the 5th of November. There are still places available for the first course – Mastering Ecommerce Masterclass which begins on the same day after the launch.