Dick Smith big winner in online awards

This year’s 2011 ORIA winners are proving that not all Australian retailers are on the back foot when it comes to mastering the e-commerce game and battling with offshore rivals.

A raft of Australian online retailers scooped major awards in this year’s Online Retail Industry Awards announced this week.

Newcomer SurfStitch made a strong impression on the judges, beating out stiff competition from Kogan, Appliances Online, Shoes of Prey, Mooo and OZScopes to take the title of Best Pure Play Retailer. SurfStitch also won the Best Use of Technology ORIA for the way it uses technological innovation to provide an optimal customer experience.

Nominated for six ORIAs, pureplay white goods retailer Appliances Online demonstrated a continued commitment to e-commerce excellence and attracted awards for Best Customer Experience and Best Site Optimisation & Design.

The Best New Online Retailer category not only brought out a diverse range of finalists, but also showcased Australia’s emerging online retail talent. The award was most deservedly presented to shoe retailer phenomenon, StyleTread, which in its short lifespan has demonstrated that good customer service and a generous returns policy is a recipe for success!

The ORIAs also highlighted that some long-standing retailers, namely Big W and Sportsgirl, have embraced the online channel and are marketing and innovating better than their younger peers.

In the newly introduced Best Aggregation Channel category, online retail pioneer Getprice beat out its competitors to gain the 2011 title – however with this area of the industry experiencing rapid growth and popularity, this will be a must-watch category for 2012.

The big winner of the evening was 2011 Online Retailer of the Year and Best Multichannel Retailer winner, the ever-evolving and innovating Dick Smith. The retailer was competing in a field of heavy hitters including 2010 winner ABC Shop, Big W, Ted’s Cameras, Bing Lee and Barkers Online. With its comprehensive multichannel strategy, Dick Smith offers its customers a seamless experience across multiple touchpoints and is paving the way for players such as Harvey Norman and Myer to enter this arena.

The Industry Recognition Award was presented to retail stalwart, Paul Greenberg, executive chairman of DealsDirect.com.au. Not satisfied with achieving success only for himself, Greenberg shows his ongoing passion and enthusiasm for his peers by sharing his knowledge, lobbying government and contributing to the overall growth of the online retail industry.

Chair of the Judging Panel, Steven Noble of Forrester Research, said this year’s winners had proven that “near enough is no longer good enough,” in the race for the off and online retail dollar.

“We’re entering an era in which it’s not enough for a website to be simply usable. It’s not enough to just get the job done. The new benchmark is absolute customer delight — websites that are a complete pleasure to use.

“That is the standard that we on the judging committee expected,” Noble said, addressing over 400 Australian retail industry professionals who turned out for the gala event, held in conjunction with the Online Retailer Conference & E-Commerce Expo.

“Based on what we saw during the judging process, we should have every confidence that online retail has a bright future in Australia,” said Noble. “We have retailers in this country today that are experimenting and innovating with the best of them, winning loyal customers both at home and abroad.”

The full list of winners is:

1. Best Pure-Play Online Retailer, sponsored by ExactTarget: SurfStitch.com 

2. Best Multichannel Retailer, sponsored by Salmat: Dick Smith | dicksmith.com.au

3. Best New Online Retailer, sponsored by Power Retail: StyleTread | www.styletread.com.au

4. Best Use of Technology, sponsored by IBM: SurfStitch.com 

5. Most Innovative Online Retailer, sponsored by Macquarie Telecom: Sportsgirl | www.sportsgirl.com.au

6. Best Online Retail Marketing Initiative, sponsored by the Online Retailer Conference & E-Commerce Expo: Big W | www.bigw.com.au

7. Best Customer Experience, sponsored by Power Retail: Appliances Online | www.appliancesonline.com.au

8. Best Aggregation Channel, sponsored by the Online Retailer Conference & E-Commerce Expo: Getprice | www.getprice.com.au

9. Best Site Design & Optimisation, sponsored by Power Retail: Appliances Online | www.appliancesonline.com.au

10. Industry Recognition Award, sponsored by the Online Retailer Conference & E-Commerce Expo: Paul Greenberg, executive chairman, DealsDirect.com.au

2011 ONLINE RETAILER OF THE YEAR: 

Dick Smith | dicksmith.com.au

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