By Claire Moffat
The Good Guys’ outstanding efforts to manage the intersection of both its offline and online touch points was validated yesterday at the 2015 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards. The retailer was named the NORA Australian Multichannel Retailer of the Year, the only consumer electronics retailer to be included in this year’s winners circle.
This win for The Good Guys follows its success in late May when it fended off Bing Lee, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith and Betta Home Living to win the 2015 Reader’s Digest Quality Service Award for Electrical Appliance stores.
The 2015 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards winners across eleven categories were unveiled at a breakfast in Melbourne attended by more than 400 industry supporters, with Jodie Fox, co-founder of Shoes of Prey delivering the keynote address. This year, beauty retailer, Lush, took home the top accolade of Retailer of the Year. According to the Awards judges, Lush was chosen for its impressive employee education programs, focus on employee wellbeing, and corporate social responsibility.
Retail impacts all our lives
“Retail is an industry that touches all Australians and contributes to the economies of almost every community across the nation, no matter how small. It is an exceptionally important industry because it impacts all of our daily lives and it is great to have an opportunity to recognise the contribution of these businesses and the people who run them.
“Today’s winners represent the diversity of Australian retailing and the depth of talent we have in this important industry,” ARA executive director, Russell Zimmerman explained.
He also praised the quality of entries to the 2015 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards, stating that the high standard of submissions proved the retail sector’s strength and resilience. The annual eftpos Australian Retail Awards are sector’s longest running Awards, and recognise the growth and achievements of both businesses and people within Australia’s largest private industry.
“Our Awards celebrate and congratulate Australia’s leading retailers. Australia’s retail industry is one of the most exciting, innovative and challenging industries and it is important that these retail stars receive the recognition they deserve,” Zimmerman said. “Retail is an industry that touches all Australians and contributes to the economies of almost every community across the nation, no matter how small and it is great to have an opportunity to recognise the contribution of these businesses and the people who run them,” he added.
Retail at a “tipping point”
The Awards breakfast was hosted by the National Online Retailers Association (NORA), executive chairman Paul Greenberg, while Ms Fox provided the audience with an insight into Shoes of Prey’s growth, secrets of success, and trends and opportunities available to retailers for the future. “The Australian retail industry is at a tipping point whereby the elements we’ve long wished for are all becoming available to us,” Fox explained. “It’s never an easy road to build a successful business – and there are plenty of failures along the way, but I’m optimistic about what we as a nation of retailers can achieve.”
Other Award winners include Wilson Retail’s Saltwater Wine and Stormriders for The Realise Group Australian Independent Retailer of the Year; The Good Guys, NORA Australian Multichannel Retailer of the Year; Paul Baker, NRMA Insurance, REST Industry Super Australian Individual Retailer of the Year; Cannings Butchers, MasterCard Australian Retail Payments Leader of the Year; eyeclarity, Pronto Software Australian Retail Innovator of the Year; Stormriders, Shop for Shops Australian Retail Store Fit-out of the Year; Charmaine Wilson, Super Retail Group, FCB Australian Retail HR Rising Star of the Year; Leaanne Stone, Beacon Lighting, Expr3ss! Staff Selection Software Australian Retail Graduate of the Year; True Value Hardware, Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Retailer of the Year, and Specsavers, BDO Australian Retail Employer of the Year.