Many businesses started experimenting with bringing new experiences in the low-risk environment the temporary space creates, while others used them as a way to introduce themselves to new customers.  Airport retailer Heinemann and luxury brand La Prairie did both.  In a world-first, the Swiss skincare brand and the duty-free retailer partnered to bring a luxury beauty experience to international travellers at Sydney International Airport. At the aptly named ‘Art of Luxury’ beauty room, customers could receive a 20-minute express facial in a private beauty suite, which included a 10-minute skin consultation.  There was also a range of complimentary treatments available, including skincare ritual recommendations, an eye massage designed to de-puff before a flight, a hand and arm massage and a foundation application.  It wasn’t just an attempt to engage with customers in a new way, however. The pop-up led to a 33 per cent increase in sales of La Prairie products compared to the prior corresponding period. As customers were invited into the pop-up without a hard sell, the store also improved dwell time and brought in more people to Heinemann’s duty free store. Luring in new customers and pampering them with a luxurious experience they’ve never had before taking off on a longhaul flight, as well as selling through stock and potentially creating repeat customers: this is what pop-ups were made for. What the judges said: “A high quality pop-up with a great experience at the heart of it.” Jon Bird, CEO, VMLY&R. CX of the Year – Small: Niska Finalists: Esther & Co Naked Wines Outland Denim Weber Store When you think of robots and retail, it’s easy to conjure images of Japan’s myriad robot bars and cafes. It’s rare for Melbourne to jump to mind, but it’s a reality at the Niska Robotic Ice Cream Bar.  Combining theatre with a premium gelato offering, Niska was born in the minds of its founders to create a new kind of retail – where robots and humans work side by side.  The gelato business worked with the University of New South Wales and Japanese bank Softbank to develop its humanoids Pepper, Eka and Tony. Pepper now greets customers as they enter the store, and recommends the most popular ice cream flavours, while Tony and Eka prepare customers’ dishes. These three robots are what makes Niska unique – a fun, fully automated frontline customer service experience. Additionally, Niska went the extra mile to create the world’s first clothing specifically for robots. Taking inspiration from old-school ice creameries, these uniforms add extra personality to Eka and Tony. According to a spokesperson at Niska,“Robots can learn new languages in seconds, remember customer preferences, [they’re] never rude or tired, and they are always happy to see customers.” In fact, up until recently, the business had extended its regular hours to 11am to 10pm after research found that the majority of customers enjoy eating ice-cream in the hours leading up to bed. Niska also has plans to eventually open 24 hours a day. The robotic approach to retail seems to have paid off for Niska, which has seen high visitation and engagement from influencers and customers, as well as seeing higher revenue than the industry average, according to its POS data. What the judges said: “A great concept for customer experience and the novelty factor, along with the ability to service customers 24/7, is fabulous.” – Salena Knight, retail strategist. Omnichannel Retailer of the Year: Forever New Finalists: Cue Clothing Supercheap Auto Superdry With the improvement of Forever New’s online offer came a greater integration with the retailer’s 300 stores worldwide and a rapidly expanding network of third-party partners and marketplaces.  “We put the customer and her experience at the forefront of everything we do, and that includes allowing her to shop wherever and whenever she wants,” Forever New said. “To achieve this, we focus on driving convenience in every channel and tailoring each experience to her expectations.” Key to this is the implementation of various ‘shop in-store’ tools, including the ability to reserve an item in-store via the website. A customer can then visit her chosen store and try on the item before deciding to purchase.  Additionally, Forever New now allows customers to convert their online cart into a physical change room experience, where each item is ready to try on when they arrive for their appointment, which has resulted in increased conversions and average order values.  By observing how customers use the Forever New website to browse for in-store purchases, the business was also able to implement several more initiatives, such as endless aisle, in-store fulfillment and click-and-collect.  And in combination with the improved online offer (worthy of its own award), these in-store initiatives create a far superior omnichannel experience than either offer would be on its own. “Forever New believes that risk is worth the reward, so driving innovation in a customer’s omnichannel experiences is embraced by the business,” Forever New said.  “Releasing three first-to-market omnichannel technologies and restructuring how internal teams focused on the relationship from physical and digital spaces allowed us to drive over 50 per cent growth globally in e-commerce in just one year.” What the judges said: “True omnichannel innovation with spectacular results – a world-class Australian retailer we should all be proud of.” Jon Bird, CEO, VMLY&R. Online Store of the Year: Forever New Finalists: Appliances Online Rodd & Gunn Supercheap Auto Superdry While it’s undeniable that e-commerce is here to stay and makes up a sizable part of what retail will look like in the coming years, some businesses have taken to the new medium with pace.  Appliances Online, Rodd & Gunn, Supercheap Auto and Superdry all made massive upgrades to their online experience during the year, but Forever New took the gold prize with its multipronged improvements and scalable solutions guiding the business forward.  In 2019, Forever New grew its online conversion rate 45 per cent and boosted its revenue almost 60 per cent across Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It also decreased customer complaint tickets by 400 per cent, improved cart abandonment and removed barriers between customers and purchasing.  And it all came down to the business reversing the way it looked at its technology. “Our roadmap for the past 12 months has driven profitability for the business by focusing on customer motivation for a solution, instead of the other way around,” a spokesperson from Forever New said.  “By using machine learning and qualitative data, we were able to identify key blockers and motivators within our customer base to build our tech stack around.” By looking closely at the customer journey and building its offer around simplification and finding ways to add value, Forever New rolled out a roadmap for a more unified experience.  New initiatives such as a two-step express PayPal flow, personalised fit and size recommendations via True Fit, the ability to reserve in store from the online site, and state-based merchandise recommendations (such as offering jackets and coats in colder states) led to a substantial improvement and also took the pressure off the customer service teams.  According to Forever New, “These decisions have centred around customer data unification – adding enhancements like a closed feedback loop and single customer view to ensure we were able to monitor and target seamlessly.” “[And] due to the success of this approach, we have made executive-level change by incorporating a testing culture into a compulsory element of e-commerce operation.” The true measure of Forever New’s online success, however, is in customer sentiment and how the experience and accessibility is perceived. According to Forever New, since these changes have been pushed through the business, it hasn’t recorded a customer effort score below 4.5/5. What the judges said: “By reversing the way it looks at the relationship between the customer journey and its technology, Forever New delivered a novel and scalable solution to e-commerce that will drive it into the coming years.” Dean Blake, journalist, Inside Retail. Best Loyalty Campaign: Nando’s Finalists: Esther & Co. Freedom Muffin Break Vinnies Shops Victoria When it comes to some of retail’s most important customer engagement statistics, loyalty is right up at the top.  It is the yardstick by which brands measure how much return business they’re getting from a single customer, and most of the time, it’s accentuated by a loyalty program that aims to give the customer what they want or early access to a new offer.  Customer data is obviously integral in this, though customer data rarely tells the full story. A purely data-driven approach to rewarding loyalty is all well and good – but customers want personalisation and choice, not strict offers delivered to them based on what they’ve done before.  This was the crux of fast food restaurant Nando’s stellar loyalty campaign in 2019 – one that will shape how the business rewards customers in 2020. Rather than deliver its regular campaign in the month of May 2019, Nando’s decided to switch things up and offer something a bit different.  “Instead of segmenting and personalising offers, we put the decision back in our members’ hands, allowing them to choose their preferred offer for the very first time,” a spokesperson at Nando’s told Inside Retail.  “Using a single campaign, personalised only by their first name, members were served four different offers showcased side by side, with the direction for them to choose whichever offer they preferred.” By offering customers a choice of how they wish to be rewarded, Nando’s drove higher customer engagement, as well as improved sales. While competitors were largely sticking to a cafe-style reward offer (buy X, get Y free), Nando’s redefined its own offer, drove strong results, and managed to learn even more about their customers in the process. “Due to the amazing results achieved by this campaign, we have incorporated this concept into some of our lifecycle communications… and will also be incorporating it with next year’s offer calendar,” Nando’s said.  “It has also led us to question and rethink our approach from a segmentation and personalisation perspective.  “As accurate and clean as our data is, we’ve proven that when it comes to our members – they’re a headstrong bunch who really relish the chance to engage with us in their way and to make their own decisions when it comes to how we reward them for their loyalty.” What the judges said: “This is a collaborative program that invites the customer into the decision making progress. Clear success criteria were set and there is a financial benefit evident in the form of incremental sales.” – Jerry Macey, national manager of retail, Commonwealth Bank. Supplier of the Year: TruRating Finalists: Amblique Dashing Group It Works Parcel Perform It’s no secret that customers are increasingly expecting more from retailers. It can be difficult to understand emerging customer trends when running the day-to-day operations of a business – it’s where services like TruRating come into their own.  TruRating provides retailers with consistent levels of customer feedback, allowing its clients to receive actionable insights based on how customers think they are succeeding and where they are lagging behind.  One such client is Retail Prodigy Group, which started using TruRating three years ago and has since completely redeveloped its staff training modules from 36 down to six, based on the core metrics it observed.  The supplier is used everyday in every one of RPG’s stores across Nike, Timbuk2 and Toms. Each morning, store managers will brief staff on how store metrics are performing, and give real-time feedback to staff, offering them instant gratification for their hard work. It also means businesses can easily track company-wide KPIs. RPG is now able to more easily track the success of certain sales tactics. By finding out if each salesperson offered customers three product options during their interactions, the business was able to increase customer spend by 46 per cent over a two-week period – which normalised out to 32 per cent over the course of a year.  “Having TruRating across our store network gives us that upper edge over other master franchisees and distributor retail groups. We know exactly what our customers want, what our customers are looking for with us in the business and that puts us ahead of everybody else, who aren’t using TruRating,” a spokesperson at RPG said.  What the judges said: “Clearly a valuable service, increasing the level of feedback exponentially and being instrumental in the sourcing of new contracts.” – Jerry Macey, national manager of retail, Commonwealth Bank. In-store Customer Service Initiative of the Year: Lush Finalists: Miei Fiori Taking Shape Ultra Football Weber Store From offering stressed shoppers hand massages and allowing them to test the fragrances of bath bombs, there are few store teams as attentive than those at Lush.  However, it isn’t just customers looking to pamper themselves who shop at Lush, but those who share the brand’s sustainable ethics. It is these shoppers who Lush targeted when the business launched one of its most ambitious initiatives yet: Lush Lens.  “We’re most commonly known for our colourful soaps, bath bombs, and fresh handmade approach to cosmetics,” a spokesperson at Lush said.  “Since inception, we’ve constantly prioritised sustainable and regenerative business practices above all else [and] at a time when plastic pollution is a huge global problem, this initiative aims to show that it is easy to shop low-waste.” Available within the Lush Labs app on iOS and Android devices, Lush Lens allows a customer to scan any ‘naked’ package-free Lush product with their device to view information such as pricing, ingredients and on-screen product demonstrations. It is also available in 19 languages. The tool can also be used by store staff to open conversations with customers, in order to better understand what they are individually looking for.  “This in turn provides us with the opportunity to discuss our own actions with reducing our use of plastic and start a dialogue about what we can do,” Lush said.  While local data is still in its infancy, the global rollout of this initiative has led to the business feeling a more positive impact from ‘going naked’.  And while 65 per cent of Lush products are packaging-free, the remainder will be ‘going naked’ in short order. According to Lush, “Naked shops with the use of Lush Lens technology are the cosmetics stores of the future.” What the judges said: “At a time when sustainability and plastic are important issues to customers, Lush found an innovative way to allow its customers to opt out of packaging, while also empowering them with more information about what they’re buying,” Dean Blake, journalist, Inside Retail. Online Customer Service Initiative of the Year: Domino’s Finalists: Koala Lovehoney Supercheap Auto While virtual reality (VR) has struggled to find a foothold in the technology space due to hardware requirements – consumer-facing VR options are either excessively expensive or cheap and reliant on a user’s phone, neither of which is convenient – augmented reality (AR) offers many of the same opportunities, but in a far less intrusive way.  Most phones offer access to AR, significantly lowering the barrier of entry for retailers to test the waters in the space.  And because people are still very curious about AR when it’s done right, it enables a brand to reach new customers, who may simply be willing to experiment with the technology, while getting access to a brand’s product as a result.  To this point, Domino’s launched its New Pizza Chef addition to its app. The initiative allows customers to create a customised pizza using AR, project it onto nearby surfaces, and view it from all angles before ordering.  And the results speak for themselves. The campaign led to downloads of the Domino’s app growing 27 per cent on iOS and 30 per cent on Android compared to the week before launch.  “Innovations like New Pizza Chef are important as they help us continue to drive online sales – the biggest growth area in our business,” Domino’s told Inside Retail.  “With up to two million items sold online each week, Domino’s will now be able to track the most popular pizza combinations our ‘virtual chefs’ make and give our customers more of what they love.” Putting development time into a largely untested technology is a risk, however, and so Domino’s put together a pretotype of the app which launched within its app as a test to measure customer engagement. The initial version saw high engagement, giving Domino’s the confidence to put the concept into full development. “Customers are central to all product innovation and the starting point of the customer’s pizza meal was the placing of the order through the customer’s eyes,” Domino’s said.  What the judges said: “Domino’s has led the market through its customer service and technology. Combining the two to give that to customers should be applauded.” – Dean Blake, journalist, Inside Retail. CX of the Year – Large: Domino’s Finalists: APG and Co. Cue Clothing Kathmandu The Coffee Club Domino’s also took home the big prize of the night due to the successful rollout of its DOM Pizza Checker technology across 820 stores in Australia and New Zealand last year. To date, the technology has scanned over 13 million pizzas.   The pizza checker camera sits above the end of the pizza oven and checks every pizza against a large dataset of images of ‘correct’ pizzas. The completed pizza is then judged against these images for quality and a live image of the freshly cooked pizza is sent to the customer. “There is currently no other quick service restaurant in the world that can assure customers that their products have passed a quality check and share images of the actual products they will receive in real-time,” Domino’s told Inside Retail.  “Customers are consistently demanding better quality at better value, and we’re proud to be able to deliver and propel the industry forward to meet this demand.” The technology was designed to solve the business’ most common customer complaint – that the final product didn’t look how it was advertised. By grading the finished product, Domino’s is able to ensure each pizza is of a high quality. “Transparency and two-way dialogue are the current cultural markers in the retail and QSR industry,” Domino’s said.  “More than ever before, customers are demanding honesty and transparency from companies and believe they have a right to ‘no more surprises’. That means receiving the meal they ordered.” While the end result has led to product quality scores growing 15 per cent since launch, the technology took over two years from concept to execution, which involved the design and installation of hardware into each store, as well as training staff. Domino’s then rolled out an education campaign to teach its team members how to use the hardware, running over 50 training sessions across Australia and New Zealand and sharing best practice and tips.  An internal reporting tool was also developed so that franchisees and team members can monitor DOM Pizza Checker statistics and images to identify missed opportunities and areas of improvement moving forward.  What the judges said: “A genuine innovation that demonstrated real results from a company that is increasingly technology first.” – Jon Bird, CEO, VMLY&R. Best Store Design: Winning Appliances Finalists: Blow Bar Co. Jaycar Kathmandu Modibodi Niska Retail Customers are increasingly looking for physical store formats that give them something out of the ordinary that they can’t experience online.  While Winning Appliances is a 113-year-old business, it has continued to lead the way for retail store design. Its recent flagship store in Richmond, Victoria, combines beauty and sophistication with invaluable research gathered by the business’ neuroscience team.  According to Winning, “Everything from the colour palette and materials chosen, to the location of brand displays and the Winning Appliances culinary experience centre, as well as the three personalised kitchens on the mezzanine floor, have been chosen based on the values and preferences of our core customer segments.” In fact, the three distinct kitchens were created to reflect the business’ most important customer segments, their needs, wants and personal styles.  In order to pull off the project, Winning partnered with Melbourne-based Cera Stribley Architects, which provided expertise on the Victorian consumer’s home as well as renovation trends. As a result, in-store customers are able to imagine Winning’s products in their own home. At the culinary experience theatre, Winning’s team create freshly cooked meals and host demonstrations regularly, so customers can see for themselves what is possible with the on-site products. “Over the last year, we have invested heavily in understanding our consumers and the behaviours behind their purchasing decisions,” a spokesperson said at Winning. “We have segmented our market based on neuroscience, and have then done extensive research into understanding our core customer segments’ behaviours and emotions to understand them on a deeply human level.” The research, led by consumer neuroscientist and Winning Group’s chief strategist Katarina Kuehn, has led to the Richmond flagship seeing some of the fastest growth in the company, with foot traffic ranking fourth across the company.  What the judges said: “Very forward-thinking in both the process of the creation of the store, and the store itself.” – Jon Bird, CEO, VMLY&R. Best Customer Service Team: Appliances Online Finalists: Brava Lingerie ForestWay Fresh Naked Wines It isn’t only Winning Group’s physical stores which kicked goals in 2019. Sister retailer Appliances Online provides its customers with service that far exceeds industry standards.  In fact, while the average net promoter score (NPS) for Australian retailers sits at 12, Appliances Online’s score sits at 82 – a testament to the lengths the business goes to ensure its customers are satisfied. As Appliances Online uses NPS as its measure of customer satisfaction, the business has created a customer experience team dedicated to solving customer issues. When the business receives an NPS score of seven and below, the team will reach out, get direct feedback and utilise this data to create a better experience moving forward.  “As a business, we understand that not all customers are the same. Different customer segments have different needs and wants and we want to cater to these at a far more personal, meaningful level than it has been done traditionally,” a spokesperson at Appliances Online said. “We [also] empower our teams by recognising and rewarding them when they go above and beyond – our attitude is to always go the extra mile to make it possible.” Case in point: Last year, Appliances Online hired a crane to deliver a fridge into a customer’s kitchen – something that most businesses wouldn’t even consider, let alone accomplish.  While such lengths are costly, staff are lauded for having a can-do attitude even when facing a difficult situation. Staff are regularly featured on a ‘wall of fame’ in the customer service office, and every Friday, the team shares good feedback to keep spirits high. Although Appliances Online sells over 6000 SKUs, all teams are given 30 minutes of product training each day to familiarise themselves with the entire catalogue. This way, everyone is a product expert, and a customer’s questions will be answered, regardless of who is speaking to them. What the judges said: “Great empowerment, training and recognition with a clear message – say ‘yes’ in a ‘no’ world.” – Jon Bird, CEO, VMLY&R. *** Congratulations to the winners Photography by Hannah Caldwell