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A Guide to the REI Retail Industry Awards 2013
- 12 June 2013
About the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards
The Retail Excellence Ireland Awards are the largest, most prestigious and recognised event in the Irish Retail Industry calendar. The objective of the Awards is to recognise and reward retail stores, companies, websites and individuals who deliver continuous and exemplary standards within the Irish retail industry. 2013 is proving to be another difficult year for our industry and being part of the Awards programme will inspire and encourage team members to work together to deliver the ultimate experience to your customers and consequently drive business sales and success.
About the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards Event
This year the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards gala black-tie dinner will be hosted at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Galway on Saturday evening 2rd November. The event will be compered by a leading media figure and over 500 guests will attend. Following dinner, video profiles for each category will be shown and award presentations will be made. The formalities are followed by entertainment and a late night party.
Please Note: The Mystery Shopping Template | Company | Manager | Rising Star Documents are for guideline purposes and maybe subject to some change.
Store of the Year Awards
Categories:
Store of the Year in five size categories (listed below) & overall National Store of the Year
Store of the Year Up to 1,000 sq. ft.
Store of the Year 1,001 sq. ft. - 2,500 sq. ft.
Store of the Year 2,501 sq. ft. - 5,000 sq. ft.
Store of the Year 5,001 sq. ft. - 10,000 sq. ft.
Store of the Year Greater than 10,000 sq. ft.
The Process
Stage1: All stores will be assessed by a team of expert Mystery Shoppers. The Mystery Shoppers will score your store using the measurement criteria contained in the Mystery Shopping Measurement Template (See email attachment). The mystery shopping process will select the Top100 stores from the total entries. An unannounced Mystery Shopper will assess your store during the period Monday 10th June and close of business Friday 12th July. We will revert to you with your completed mystery shopping report on Wednesday 31st July.
Stage2: The Top100 Stores will be announced on Wednesday 31st July. The Top100 stores will progress to Stage2 which involves a formal store assessment. Store Assessors will transact a thorough store assessment review of your store. This Store Standards Measurement Assessment template will be forwarded to the Top100 stores prior to the assessment phase. The assessor will also take photographs of the exterior and interior of the store including key design features and key product display features in each of the Top100 stores. This store assessment will determine if the store will progress to the Top50 listed stores. Top50 stores will be awarded a mark of excellence and the best scoring six stores in each of the five listed categories will progress to the Top30 store of the year finalists. The Store Assessor will announce their arrival into store but no prior notice of this visit will be provided.
Stage3: Having achieved Top30 status, a brief video will be shot in each store by a leading video production company. A panel of experienced judges will assess the mystery shopping report, store assessment report, a financial submission, measure how your store rates against your peer group, review photographs and the VT footage to determine both the category and overall winners. Where any conflict exists, that judge will excuse themselves from selection decisions in that category. Finalists are invited to attend the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards on 2nd November.
What is Measured – Stage 1 – Mystery Shopper Visit
- The approach – visibility of signage and external housekeeping standards
- First impressions – staff presentation and awareness
- Store presentation | housekeeping standards
- Product presentation
- Standard of service – approach | product knowledge | ability to make the sale
- What makes this store unique
- Overview of the customer experience
See appendix 1.1. for the full mystery shopping report.
What is Measured – Stage 2 – Store Assessor Visit
- Exterior store presentation
- Window display and customer communication
- First impressions
- Counter presentation
- Housekeeping standards
- Driving sales through POS and other techniques
- Environmental standards – lighting, design, display etc
- Staff appearance
- Retail innovation – does this store lead its sector
The store assessment template will be made available to the Top100 stores prior to commencement of the
store assessment phase. .
Useful Tips
- Tell the store team that their store has been entered in the awards and give them a copy of the attached mystery shopping template
- Top marks will only be awarded where service standards are above and beyond what is expected for your sector
- Where appropriate, staff should acknowledge customers and approach offering assistance within a suitable timeframe and in an appropriate manner
- Maintain good housekeeping standards at all times – check the finer details (e.g. blown light bulbs etc)
- Staff should maintain a high standard of professionalism at all times
- Good product knowledge is essential
- The closing of the interaction is as important as the opening - thank the customer and extend a friendly exit greeting
- Why not get your team to transact the mystery shopping template on your store and other neighbouring stores to get into the mind of the mystery shopper
- Focus on every customer as if they are the Mystery Shopper
- View the store as a customer would
Key Dates
Store of the Year Activity
Closing Date for Entries Friday 7th June
Mystery Shopping Programme commences Monday 10th June
Mystery Shopping Programme concludes Friday 12th July
Results of Stage 1 returned to all entrants Wednesday 31st July
Top100 Stores Announced Wednesday 31st July
Store Assessment Programme commences Monday 12th August
Store Assessment Programme concludes Friday 6th September
Top50 | Top30 Finalists announced Friday 20th September
VT recording of Top30 Finalists commences Monday 30th September
Winners announced at the REI Awards Saturday 2nd November
e-Commerce Website of the Year Awards
Best Transactional Website of the Year – will recognise websites which use great design and usability practices, have a fully functional transactional website with a great checkout experience, displays awareness and utilises the channels (web | mobile), and take advantage of the many ways customers are using web | mobile content to complement the retail experience.
The Process
Stage1: Each website will be independently reviewed and benchmarked and conducted by a usability expert. A short-list of the best performing sites will proceed to Stage 2. This short-list will be announced on 30th July.
Stage2: Each short-listed website will undergo a more detailed evaluation process, based on the completion of the Stage2 application form and a further assessment by an experienced online consultant. The Stage2 application form will be sent to the short-listed companies on 7th August and must be returned by no later than 5pm on 14th August. All websites which are assessed through the Stage2 process will be eligible to use and market a newly launched Retail Excellence Ireland e-Commerce quality mark
Stage3: A judging panel will select the finalists, based on Stage2 evaluations and application details from short-listed companies. Short-listed companies will then be invited to present to the judges in Dublin in late September. The winning site will be selected based upon the presentation content and all assessment outcomes. Winners will be announced at the Awards on 2nd November.
What We Measure – Stage1 – Initial Review
- First impressions – home page presentation and branding
- Design and usability approach – clarity of user journeys through checkout, newsletter signup, finding out more about offers
- Offer – is the customer proposition of the website clear?
- Proposition – communication of product benefits (visually, content, and ability to share content)
- Quality of content – text, images and use of tagging, best practice search engine optimization for content
- Customer input – links to social media from within site, product reviews, share product information
- Engagement – Forms of social media and engagement used to create demand generation
- Delivery and Fulfilment – what is the customer promise on delivery and fulfilment? Time to deliver? Transparency of delivery costs
- After sales process – Returns policy, delivery cost follow-up care
- Trust – how well does the site engender customer confidence? Seamlessness during checkout regarding security
- Transparency – are pricing, delivery cost and returns policy all clear?
- Multichannel: Is your offering on Web and Mobile; maximising customer researching on your site (e.g. store locator information)
What We Measure – Stage 2 – More Detailed Evaluation
- Customer service in theory – what service level and options are offered
- Customer service in practice – queries are raised and response time and quality noted
- Merchandising – how well are up-sell, cross-sell, special offer features used?
- Usability of shopping cart and checkout experience – multi-point check of the sales funnel for complexity, obstacles to completion, distractions, clear communication
- Added value features – product comparison, detailed product information
- Demand generation – how you’re bringing customer to your site
- Building repeat business – what permission-based and long-term marketing measures are in place?
- Customer options – delivery, payment, despatch
- Innovation – what does this store do to put itself out in front?
- Online footprint – how well referenced is the site (ranking, references etc)
- Search Engine Marketing – effective use of SEO, PPC, display, remarketing, affiliates.
- Detailed review of the customer experience and online proposition
Useful Tips
- Read and understand the Stage1 and Stage2 headings and critically evaluate your site against them
- Work to improve on any areas where you scored poorly
- Visit the website as a customer would and carry out the full range of customer behaviour – browse, add to cart, remove items, begin to check out and then go back, transact a purchase. At all times look for ease of use, clarity and good functionality
- Check for out of date or low-quality content in any area of the site
- Run searches for the site on the major search engines and look critically at how your site performs
- Check your customer proposition and product presentation
- Review your customer support processes and standards
Key Dates:
e-Commerce Website of the Year Activity
Closing Date for Entries Wednesday 5th June
Review of websites commences Monday 10th June
Review of websites concludes Monday 8th July
Reports returned to entrants Tuesday 6th August
Short-list of Top10 websites announced Tuesday 6th August
Stage 2 application form sent to short-listed companies Wednesday 7th August
Closing date for receipt of Stage 2 application form Friday 23rd August
5 Finalists to be announced Friday 6th September
Presentation Meetings with Top5 Finalists Wednesday 9th October
Winners announced at the REI Awards Saturday 2nd November
Company of the Year Awards
Categories:
Industry Leader
Best Employer
The Process
Stage1: Each entrant to the Company of the Year category will receive a Company of the Year Submission Form. See an outline of the submission in appendix 1.1. Submission documentation will be sent by e-mail to all entrants on Friday 14th June and completed submissions must be returned to events@retailexcellence.ie no later than 5pm on Friday 12th July. Please ensure that the correct contact person is listed and all details are clearly inserted into the form.
Stage2: Based on the submission content, a short-list of six finalists will be selected and grouped into 2 categories – 3 finalists from each category – Industry Leader | Best Employer. Each entrant will be scored equally on both of the primary criteria. The submission document will also include a result and growth measurement criteria which explores sustainability, performance versus market conditions, stage of development and financial results. The 6 highest scoring companies will be selected as finalists. The highest scoring companies in each of the 2 categories will be selected as finalists for that category.
Stage3: Finalists will be announced on Friday 9th August at which time they will be invited to present the submission content to a panel of judges in Dublin. The submission presentation will be scored on both categories but a greater weighting will be given to the companies listed category. The meeting will be used to demonstrate evidence of best practice to the judges. The companies which best demonstrate this evidence over a limited time period will score best. Following the submission meeting the company representative will be required to complete a brief interview to camera which will be shown on the evening of the awards.
What we Measure
- Best industry standards
- Contribution to the Irish economy
- Investment in a unique retail concept with a difference
- Ability to succeed through business sustainability
- Performance versus market conditions
- Stage of development
- Financial results
- Industry leadership and innovation
Useful Tips
- When writing the submission please try and demonstrate best practice in all category areas
- The submission document should contain as must evidence as possible while remaining within the content constrains
- Demonstrate how your company leads it’s sector
- At the meeting use the time productively and demonstrate as much evidence as possible
- Remember that at this meeting 60% of the points are awarded to performance in the other category, while 40% is awarded in your short-listed category
Key Dates
Company of the Year Activity
Closing Date for Entries Wednesday 5th June
Company Submission Document emailed to all entrants Friday 14th June
Closing date for receipt of completed Submission Document Friday 12th July
Top6 Finalists announced Friday 9th August
Presentation Meetings with Top6 Finalists Tuesday 8th October
Winners announced at the REI Awards Saturday 2nd November
People of the Year Awards
Categories:
Manager of the Year
Rising Star of the Year
Manager of the Year
The Manager of the Year Award category can be entered by all store and department managers irrespective of the size of the business. The award will be presented to the manager who displays strong store management qualities and an ability to lead his/her team.
The Process – Manager of the Year
Stage1: The closing date for entry to the Manager of the Year competition is Wednesday 5th June. A Manager of the Year Submission Document will be e-mailed to all entrants on Friday 14th June and this should be completed and returned no later than 5pm Friday 5th July. See an outline of this submission document in appendix 1.2.
Stage2: Based upon submission content received, a group of five finalist managers will be invited to attend an interview / meeting with a panel of judges. The finalist managers will also give a brief interview to camera which will be shown at the Awards ceremony on Saturday 2nd November in the Radisson Blu Hotel Galway where the overall winner will be announced.
What we Measure
- Benchmarked against best practice management techniques
- Knowledge and implementation of store key performance indicators (KPI’s)
- Team management skills
- Strategies employed to trade through the recession
Useful Tips
- Be yourself and don’t worry
- Include as much detail of actual achievements and good management practice as possible
- Remember those who provide the most evidence to the judges will score best
- Managers who prove they take responsibly, think on their feet and can react to adverse trading conditions will score well
- Demonstrate you can capably lead your team
- Demonstrate that you lead by example
Key Dates
Manager of the Year
Closing Date for Entries Wednesday 5th June
Manager Submission Document sent to all entrants Monday 17th June
Closing date for receipt of Submission Documents Friday 5th July
Top5 Manager short-listed announced Friday 9th August
Top5 Manager interviews Tuesday 17th September
Manager of the Year announced at REI Awards Saturday 2nd November
Rising Star of the Year
This awards category recognises and rewards outstanding performance by a front-line team member in a nonsupervisory | non-management position. The winner will prove themselves to have exemplary sales techniques, a clear customer service vision and a strong team spirit.
The Process – Rising Star of the Year
Stage 1: Closing date for entry to Rising Star of the Year is Wednesday 5th June. The Rising Star of the Year Submission Document will be e-mailed to all applicants and the completed submission document must be returned no later than 5pm Friday 5th July 2013. See appendix 1.3. for an outline of submission content.
Stage2: Based upon submission content received, a group of five finalist Rising Stars will be invited to attend an interview / meeting with a panel of judges. The finalist managers will also give a brief interview to camera which will be shown at the Awards ceremony on Saturday 2nd November in the Radisson Blu Hotel Galway where the overall winner will be announced.
What we Measure
- Sales techniques, skills and ability
- How well you work in a team
- Enthusiasm and personal drive
- Ambition and vision for the store
Useful Tips
- Think of situations where you handled a difficult customer / situation
- What do you do that makes your fellow team members work well with you?
- Have you had any unique ideas which have driven sales?
- Where do you see yourself in the future?
- What would you like to do to improve the store you work in?
Key Dates
Rising Star of the Year
Closing Date for Entries Wednesday 5th June
Rising Star of the Year Submission Document sent to all entrants Monday 17th June
Closing date for receipt of Submission Documents Friday 5th July
Top5 Rising Star short-listed announced Friday 9th August
Top5 Rising Star interviews Wednesday 18th September
Rising Star of the Year announced at REI Awards Saturday 2nd November
APPENDIX 1.1.
COMPANY OF THE YEAR SUBMISSION
BACKGROUND DETAILS
Company Name: _________________________________________________
Trading As: _________________________________________________
Owners Name: _________________________________________________
Person Responsible for this Submission: _________________________________________________
Contact Phone Number: _________________________________________________
Contact E-Mail Address: _________________________________________________
Current Number of Stores (ROI) _________________________________________________
Total Company Employees: _________________________________________________
SUBMISSION CONTENT
Q1 - In no more than 100 words, please outline what makes your retail brand different to other market competitors…..
Q2 - In no more than 100 words, please outline implemented strategies to ensure the sustained growth of your company….
Q3 - In no more than 100 words, please outline why you feel your organisation is a good employer?
Q4 - In no more than 100 words, please outline why your brand should be selected as Ireland’s Retail Company of the Year 2013…..
APPENDIX 1.2
MANAGER OF THE YEAR SUBMISSION
BACKGROUND DETAILS
Manager Name: ___________________________________________________
Company Name: ___________________________________________________
Manager Nominated By: ___________________________________________________
Store| Department Managed: ___________________________________________________
Manager Contact Work Phone Number: ___________________________________________________
Manager Mobile Phone Number: ___________________________________________________
Manager Contact E-Mail Address: ___________________________________________________
Number of Years Employed with Company: ___________________________________________________
Total Employees Reporting to Manager: ___________________________________________________
Were you promoted during your employment:___________________________________________________
SUBMISSION CONTENT
Q1 - In no more than 100 words, please describe the qualities which you believe make for a great retail manager….
Q2 - In no more than 100 words, please outline what key performance indicators should be measured to indicate the performance of your store………
Q3 - In no more than 100 words, please describe strategies which you have implemented to ensure your store continues to trade successfully……..
Q4 - In no more than 100 words, please describe how you guarantee outstanding performance from your team…..
Q5 - In no more than 100 words, can you describe an example of a customer initiative which you have implemented in your store and how successful this initiative has been in driving sales…….
Q6 - In no more than 100 words, can you tell us why you believe you should be awarded the title Retail Excellence Ireland ‘Manager of the Year 2013’…..
APPENDIX 1.3
RISING STAR OF THE YEAR SUBMISSION
BACKGROUND DETAILS
Team Member Name: ___________________________________________________
Company Name: ___________________________________________________
Nominated By: ___________________________________________________
Store Worked In: ___________________________________________________
Contact Work Phone Number: ___________________________________________________
Mobile Phone Number: ___________________________________________________
Contact E-Mail Address: ___________________________________________________
Number of Years Employed with Company: ___________________________________________________
Were you promoted during your employment:___________________________________________________
SUBMISSION CONTENT
Q1 - In no more than 100 words, please describe the qualities which you believe make for a great retail team member….
Q2 - In no more than 100 words, please outline the qualities you demonstrate in your job everyday ………
Q3 - In no more than 100 words, please describe any ideas which you have implemented to ensure your store continues to trade successfully and delivers an exceptional experience to customers……..
Q4 - In no more than 100 words, please describe how you go that extra mile for your customers…..
Q5 - In no more than 100 words, can you describe an example of a customer initiative which you have implemented in your store and how successful this initiative has been in driving sales…….
Q6 - In no more than 100 words, can you tell us why you believe you should be awarded the title Retail Excellence Ireland ‘Rising Star of the Year 2013’…..
Source: REI - A Guide to the REI Retail Industry Awards 2013
