The traders recognised by Internet Retailing Awards demonstrate how the British ecommerce industry continues “to lead the way around the world”, a leading supplier has said.
Finula Crowe, head of marketing, EMEA, at cloud-based commerce solutions supplier Venda was commenting on the list of Commended Retailers named in the run-up to the second annual Internet Retailing Awards.
Venda is title sponsor of the awards, and the company’s chief executive Eric Abensur is also a member of its judging panel.
“Venda is really pleased to be headline sponsor of the Internet Retailing Awards,” said Crowe, “because we want to be part of that opportunity to recognise the fantastic innovation of these iconic British retailers. During the judging process we were struck by the the breadth of categories and organisations within the list of nominees. We were particularly impressed by the quality of British retailers. I feel British retailers continue to lead the way around the world.”
On June 26, hundreds are expected to gather at a glitzy party to be held at SushiSamba, 664ft up in London’s Heron Tower, to find out the names of the winners in 10 categories.
They include eight awards voted for by our 18-strong judging panel, including leading retailers and key vendors. They are the Innovation, Omni, M-Retailing, IRIS (Internet Retailing In-Store), Customer, Capability, International and Global awards. Full details of the awards can be found here, while the full shortlist for those awards appears below. A ninth, overall, honour, the Judge’s Award, will be named by the judges. The winner of the 10th and final trophy, the Internet Retailing Award 2013, is to be determined by readers of Internet Retailing, who are asked to take part in voting for the retailer who has impressed them the most over the last year here.
Crowe urged readers to join in by taking part in the public vote, and shared some of her thoughts on who she might vote for. “As a consumer, I’m a very big fan of Asos – I think they do a wonderful job in addressing that multidevice world that is very much a reality, and they have really worked out their fulfillment and returns process which is a big operational hurdle for a lot of retailers.
“I’m also a big fan of Apple. I think they have joined up that online and in-store experience very beautifully and it really reflects the Apple brand. John Lewis is another one of those great iconic British brands, showing that they can repeat the customer service and in-store experience that they are known for online.”
One of the attractions at the awards ceremony is a social media photo challenge, #VendaChallenge. Follow @VendaUK and @etail for details of how you can win one of three fantastic prizes. They are a Buckingham Palace and champagne afternoon tea for two; a 30 minute helicopter sightseeing tour of London, and the view from The Shard and lunch for two.
The Internet Retailing Awards judging panel includes: Andy Harding, executive director, multichannel at House of Fraser; Tanya Lawler, vice president, UK trading at eBay; David Walmsley, director of multichannel development at Marks & Spencer; Michaelle Vanzella, consulting director, business development at Westfield; Simon Forster, multichannel director at Selfridges; Alison Lancaster, CMO at Kiddicare and marketing director, online non-food at Wm Morrison Supermarkets; Peter Fitzgerald, country sales director, Google UK; Donna Chen, group strategy, international online development, Alliance Boots; Eric Abensur, chief executive, Venda; Siobhán Géhin, associate partner at Kurt Salmon; Jon Kamaluddin, international director at Asos.com; Jonathan Wall, group ecommerce director at Shop Direct Group; Shivani Tejuja, ecommerce and multichannel director at New Look; Alan Giles, chairman at Fat Face; Steve Robinson, customer director at B&Q; Guy Hipwell, coowner of Fashion156; Artemis Berry, senior director, content and community at Shop.org; and Ray Fowler, executive director, advisory, at Ernst & Young.
For more details of the Internet Retailing Awards and party click here. Ticket information can be found here.
Internet Retailing Awards Commended List
Innovation
Burberry
Made.com
M&S
Top Shop
Omni
Aurora
Debenhams
John Lewis
Tesco
M-Retailing
Amazon
Debenhams
Dominos
Ebay marketplace
Net a Porter/Mr Porter
IRIS
Apple
Burberry
Dixons
M&S
Customer
House of Fraser
John Lewis
Lakeland
Lovehoney
Capability
Amazon
ASOS
B&Q/Screwfix/Tradepoint
John Lewis
International
ASOS
Net a porter/Mr Porter
Wiggle
Zalando
Global
ASOS
H&M
Net a porter/Mr Porter
Tesco
