Results from previous years
Congratulations to the winners, high commendations, runners up and special mentions in the Online Retail Awards.
Final results 2011
- Prix d'OR award:
Online Retail Site of the Year: Ty Mawr (www.lime.org.uk)
For proving that building materials and environmentally-sound products don’t have to be boring and for entering one of the most informed and informative, intelligent and challenging retail experiences in this year’s competition, it is a surprise and a real pleasure to award the 2011 Prix d’OR to Ty Mawr
- Multiple online retail site of the year
Winner: Sears Holdings (www.sears.com)
In this toughly contested category, the Sears site “imbues every visitor with a sense of excitement about the international Sears group.” From the home page you can go anywhere and one of the judges remarked, “ any one of the Sears’ divisions could have won an ORA this year." Great site. Thrilling to explore.”
Highly Commended: Halfords (www.halfords.com)
Highly Commended: Kiddicare.com (www.kiddicare.com)
Highly Commended: NotOnTheHighStreet (www.notonthehighstreet.com)
- Independent online retail site of the year
Winner: Labels4Kids (www.labels4kids.com)
For a second year, Labels4Kids provided evidence of a site that is “growing and developing for the benefit of customers.” The helpful instructional videos and online label designer are crucial to way this site continues to develop - changing and adapting to the needs of customers. The company’s focus on the customer is outstanding and positions it well for massive growth in overseas territories. For customers, the site is an example of simple brilliance.
Highly Commended: Made.com (www.made.com)
Highly Commended: Purple Rose Boutique (www.purpleroseboutique.co.uk)
Highly Commended: Twisted Twee (www.twistedtwee.co.uk)
- Online retail portal site of the year
Winner: NotOnTheHighStreet (www.notonthehighstreet.com)
This innovative online marketplace “enables customers to immerse themselves in a unique shopping experience, bringing together over 1,800 independent British businesses selling 35,000 high quality, creative products.” The judges consider the “phenomenal growth of this portal site to be attributable to the customer experience, which is unsurpassed and is a benchmark for excellence in online retailing.”
Highly Commended: Kiddicare.com (www.kiddicare.com)
- Online retail marketing campaign of the year
Winner: Dairy Crest Milk&More (www.milkandmore.co.uk)
The Milk&More campaign was the excellent outright winner in this category, “leaving all other entries far behind” in the view of the judges. A simple explanatory pdf of all the marketing material that supports the online activity “gave us a clear sense of the skill with which this campaign has been built and how the service brings real benefits to customers.”
- Online retail mobile site of the year
Winner: Kiddicare (www.kiddicare.com)
Customer experience comes in many guises and the Kiddicare site proves that careful consideration of customer needs reduces costs in other parts of a business, while enhancing customers’ expectations and experiences. “The seamless integration of Kiddicare’s mobile site and app with the main site has reduced the demands on the customer communications team, while increasing sales, conversions and future growth rates.”
Highly Commended: Halfords (www.halfords.com)
Highly Commended: Sears Holdings (http://m.sears.com)
- Online retail launch site of the year
Winner: Made.com (www.made.com)
Three very different websites made it to the final in this category. The Made.com website, though, “is a genuinely fascinating experience for customers – clear, beautifully photographed images, loads of information, engagement in product selection through customer voting, preferential discounts and sensible enticements to invite friends to visit and register on the site.” Customer feedback, opinion, engagement, and crowd sourcing of product point the way to future retailing right now.
Highly Commended: Barclays Bank (www.barclays.co.uk/investments)
Highly Commended: Knowlarity Communications (www.superfax.in)
- Babies & Children
Winner: Twisted Twee (www.twistedtwee.co.uk)
Not a massive website, not one of the big names in children’s retailing “but this site is just so much fun for the customer.” A fun home page, clear, chunky, fun, product visuals, and a glorious sense of humour make this site stand out for customer enjoyment. Well worth a visit, just for the fun of it.
Highly Commended: Radio Flyer (www.radioflyer.com)
Highly Commended: Kiddicare (www.kiddicare.com)
- Beauty, perfumes & cosmetics
Winner: Escentual (www.escentual.com)
At first glance there’s little to separate the good websites in this sector. For the judges, Escentual’s site won because “it cut down on the irritation factor of drop down menus forever obscuring the primary navigation.” Escentual opted for a simpler approach, making sure the brand list was always there – just a tiny mouse move from the main content. “The site also scores highly for elegance in the way content is presented.”
Highly Commended: BeautyBay.com (www.beautybay.com)
Highly Commended: Feel Unique (www.feelunique.com)
- Books, magazines & newspapers
Winner: Green Metropolis (www.greenmetropolis.com)
In the words of one judge: “Genius”. This initiative, which benefits charities such as The Woodland Trust, allows customers to sell books and earn money, donate from their earnings to a charity and buy their favourite books at preferential rates. “A well thought out, fully rounded, helpful initiative, with a customer friendly website to match that makes the whole experience engaging and leaves participants feeling uplifted.”
- Cars and car accessories
Winner: Halfords (www.halfords.com)
The vast Halfords’ website is “proof of how successful a retail website can be if the customer is placed centre stage. Halfords’ customers can now source and pay for products in four different ways both online and mobile.” This in turn has led to increased sales and greater conversion. Navigation options are made easier for customers, too, with “fewer clicks on the customer journey.” Over 40 million visitors and growth of around 35% prove Halfords have got their multi-channel strategy right.
- Computers and telecommunications (inc mobile/cell)
Winner: MobileFun (www.mobilefun.co.uk)
In one of this year’s most complete entries, MobileFun takes the top spot in the Computers & Telecommunications category, winning outright. This award-winning company “has got it right in almost every way”. The judges were impressed with the vast reservoir of expertise that lies behind the site, with the clear decision making to create a site that was less text, more image rich, with the investment in a new checkout that increased conversions by nearly 5% and the subsequent flow-through to the bottom line. These and many other changes obviously helped the company over-achieve, but more importantly, made customers feel wanted, excited by the offerings and well served at every level. “A thoroughly deserved win”.
- Electrical
Winner: Appliances Online (www.appliancesonline.co.uk)
Appliances Online embarked on an ambitious drive to improve conversion rates and to drive forward overall online sales. “They were able to do so because they listened to the reasons why customers were not buying online. This gave the company the understanding to make the necessary changes to their website. And the results showed dramatic improvement.” The site now offers 4,000 products, 4-hour delivery time slots, no-fuss returns, a price match guarantee and a dedicated free phone line. Over 200 video reviews per month are created, which have improved conversion rates by well over 50% and the power of their About Us video has shown that, once viewed, customers are 700 times more likely to buy from Appliances Online. “This is an impressive entry in 2011.”
- Fashion & clothing (including footwear and fashion accessories)
Winner: Brand Alley (www.brandalley.co.uk)
For the third year, BrandAlley has been voted a winner by the ORA judges. New for 2011, and adding further appeal to the BrandAlley offering is Le Lab, BrandAlley's online community, “which hooks up young talented designers wanting to reach out to more fans and style lovers on the hunt for the latest, coolest labels and original finds.” In addition, Le Lab gives every designer a profile page where they can showcase their work. Designers need to reach 2000 votes to be considered for their first boutique. The judges believe “innovative BrandAlley continues to lead in the highly competitive online fashion space.”
Highly Commended: Boot Barn (www.bootbarn.com)
Highly Commended: El Ilhaam (www.elilhaam.com)
Highly Commended: Yebhi (www.yebhi.com) - Finance & insurance
Winner: Barclays Bank (www.barclays.co.uk/investments)
Barclays wants to lead the way in helping customers manage their investments online. This meant a website that provided customers with the ability to research, purchase and manage their investments in one place. The judges wished “that other financial institutions had the same customer-focused appeal, which Barclays enhanced with the inclusion of an investment game, some great videos, a quiz and a jargon-buster section that helps demystify the whole subject.” The first three months of operation saw more customers opening Barclays’ investment accounts than the whole of the prior 12 months. - Food, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks
Winner: Dairy Crest (www.milkandmore.com)
Just three navigation buttons make this one of the simplest sites to navigate in this year’s ORAs – a Home page, a Store page and an About page. “The customer only has to concentrate on the online shopping experience provided by Milk & More.” The Home page makes clear announcements about offers and news, the Store page is clearly illustrated and, again, simple to use, and the About page is a succinct summary. “There are no distractions, messages are brief and clear; branding is immaculate; the number of words are kept to a minimum; and the site is a real pleasure to experience.” Yet, there at the side are links to other informative pages. “Great marketing. Great site.” - Garden & gardening
Winner: Worldstores – Gardening sites (www.worldstores.com)
While not the most beautiful, Worldstores’ websites are building the company a solid reputation for expertise in the online retailing, handling and delivery of large, high-value items that are difficult to transport. As a result, Worldstores’ garden product sites deliver choice and service, traditionally hard to find in these markets, and an informative shopping experience that gives customers the confidence to make high-value purchases online. - Gifts & greetings
WINNER: Your Hamper from Virginia Hayward (www.yourhamper.com)
The judges expressed real enthusiasm for this hugely enjoyable “build your own hamper” site. With a clear choice of hamper size and a list of goodies to delight any customer making their selection, this really is a remarkably successful gift-site. One judge was so impressed she placed an order and reported back “that this is probably the best hamper gift site I’ve ever used.” Praise indeed.
Highly Commended: Handpicked Collection (www.handpickedcollection.com)
Highly Commended: NotOnTheHighStreet (www.notonthehighstreet.com) - Green products
Winner: Ty Mawr (www.lime.org.uk)
The judges unanimously agreed that the Ty Mawr website was the out and out winner in the Green Products category. There’s a huge amount of useful information about ecologically sound building materials on this immaculately designed website. “One of the most informed and informative, intelligent and challenging retail experiences in this year’s competition” was the view of the judges
- Home & home improvement
Winner: Made.com (www.made.com)
Three stylish websites made the final in this category but the Made.com website won out for the reasons that secured the company a win in the Launch Website category: “a genuinely fascinating experience for customers – clear, beautifully photographed images, loads of information, engagement in product selection through customer voting, preferential discounts and sensible enticements to invite friends to visit and register on the site.”
Highly Commended: Rattan Furniture (www.rattanfurnitureuk.co.uk)
Highly Commended: Sofa.com (www.sofa.com)
Copyright © 2011 Online Retail Awards®. The rights of all brand owners and retailers credited in this document are fully recognized by the organizers.
Click here to view the Winners and Finalists
of the Online Retail Awards 2010
Click here to view the Winners and Finalists
of the Online Retail Awards 2009
Prix d'OR Online Retail Award Winner for 2011
Congratulations to Ty Mawr (www.lime.org.uk) for winning the ORA Prix d'OR for 2011.
