“Open to the Future" offers training courses for retailers in strategic management, digital marketing and customer loyalty

The "Open to the Future" programme has prepared free training capsules and workshops on business management and new technologies for local commerce and services. This is a Barcelona City Council Department of Commerce initiative, run through Barcelona Activa in collaboration with the city districts and local retailers’ associations.

The capsules and workshops are in response to the current needs of retailers and the workshops are held in various city facilities at times to suit them.

The programme consists of training in three main areas: strategic retail management, marketing tools (using social media, online professionalisation and professional development tools) and skills acquisition, plus fostering customer loyalty.

Its aims include increasing competitiveness, innovation and sustainability in local commerce and services, developing a business strategy in commercial establishments, providing tools and resources that facilitate and optimise everyday management tasks, learning about trends, improving customer shopping experience, promoting the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as well as improving the level of digitalisation in the participating establishments, making good use of the opportunities offered by the internet and social media, and helping retailers to implement the knowledge they obtain.

Furthermore, in 2018, all the retailers that take part in at least 3 training capsules will be able to use a personal advice service (up to 4 hours) run by experts in subjects that include business strategy, business management, finances, point-of-sale marketing, window dressing and commercial interior design.

Go to the training capsule and workshop programme: "Open to the future".