The winners of the inaugural Retail Customer Excellence Awards were announced at a prestigious Gala Dinner held at Melbourne’s Plaza Ballroom last night, with active brands Nike and Stylerunner taking out the night’s top gongs.

Other winners included beauty brand LUSH and pet services retailer Petbarn who took home two categories each, while Naked Wines, Dan Murphy’s FIT Nutritional Fix and Kikki-K rounded out the Awards winning the online, omnichannel, personalisation and in-store categories respectively.

“It has been wonderful to see a mixture of global and local brands take out the Awards, highlighting that no matter the size or structure of the organisation, putting the customer at the heart of everyday operations is an imperative,” said Catherine van der Meulen, the Retail Customer Excellence Awards Event Manager.

“It was interesting to see so many brands that focus on wellbeing, being recognised for their commitment to customers.”

Adjudicated by a panel of judges comprising retail representatives from Azurium, Telstra, Australian Centre for Retail Studies, Good On You, and Inside Retail, the winners in each of the 11 categories were:

The Customer Centricity Excellence Awards
The major award giving retailers and organisations the opportunity to share their wins, their journey, influence and innovations in conjunction with the successful strategies that create a centralised brand value reflective of customers’ desires. Split into two categories, Enterprise and General.

Customer Centricity Excellence Awards – Enterprise
Winner – Nike

2nd – Muffin Break

3rd – LUSH

Customer Centricity Excellence Awards – General
Winner – Stylerunner

2nd – Appliances Online

3rd – Build-a- Bear

The Instore Customer Experience Award
Recognising those who create a unique instore customer experience and a strong point of difference to competitors, through influential and innovative strategies.

Winner – Kikki – K

2nd – Supercheap Auto

3rd – Build – a – Bear

The Online Customer Experience Award
Recognising the strategies implemented by retailers to enhance the customer’s online journey, with the navigation experience creating a seamless digital e-commerce environment.

Winner – Naked Wines

2nd – Appliances Online

3rd – Catch of the Day

The Omnichannel Customer Experience Award
This category takes the whole brand experience beyond the buzz word of omnichannel, towards the creation of a seamless technology-empowered system that enhances transactions and a depth of understanding through data centricity about the customer.

Winner – Dan Murphy’s

2nd – The Co Op

3rd – Supercheap Auto

The Responsible Impact Excellence Award
Honouring the positive impact an organisation has made through its Corporate Social Responsibility program to create tangible results that impact people’s lives, socially, environmentally and financially.

Winner – LUSH

2nd – Kathmandu

3rd – HERO Condoms

The Customer Excellence Team Award
All about service and the seamless integration of service across multiple channels merging the on and offline retail environments to create a superior customer experience and an authentic brand experience.

Winner – Kikki K

2nd – Rebel

3rd – Naked Wines

The Loyalty Program Experience Award
This award reflects the true value that a reward program offers customers, giving tangible benefits to the growth of the business and offering activities that create longstanding, loyal customers.

Winner – Petbarn

2nd – Supercheap Auto

3rd – Dan Murphy’s

The Instore Theatre Experience Award
Awarding organisations that use the retail store environment to entertain, entice and create impact for a more engaging retail environment that improves the customer experience.

Winner – Petbarn

2nd – Rebel

3rd – Dan Murphy’s

The Personalisation Excellence Award
These finalists demonstrated how they use key insights and data to create a personalised customer experience with strong attention to detail to create a memorable experience that creates strong loyalty between the customer and brand.

Winner – FIT Nutritional Fix

2nd – Dan Murphy’s

3rd – Build- a- Bear

The Instore Technology Implementation Experience Award
Honouring companies and brands that are using instore technology as an enabler for superior and positive customer experience, from supply chain integration to optimising team performance

Winner – Myer

2nd – Farmers

3rd – Glue Store

The Gala Event was sponsored by Gold sponsor Dashing Print; Silver sponsors Fluent Retail, Azurium and Intermarketing Agency; and Bronze sponsors Braintree, Brand Aroma and Zip Pay.

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