Events : Congratulations to all those etailers shortlisted in the INTERNET RETAILING AWARDS

Commended retailers range from long-established traditional high street retailers who are adapting successfully to the demands of multichannel, such as M&S and John Lewis, and online etailers, such as Net-a-Porter, Amazon and Asos, who have built strong reputations over the last decade, to names that have more recently emerged, such as Wiggle and Zalando.

All of the retailers were put forward for the initial long list by Internet Retailing readers and editors. That list was considered, debated and then voted on by our panel of distinguished judges drawn from across the industry in an afternoon-long voting session which took place last week.

The names that have reached the commendation stage in the awards are named in eight categories: Innovation, Omni, M-Retailing, IRIS (Internet Retailing In-Store); Customer; Capability; International; and Global. The Internet Retailing Commended List is below, in full. For full details of the award categories click here.

Internet Retailing Awards judging panel

It’s a list, said Ian Jindal, editor-in-chief of Internet Retailing, and convenor of the Internet Retailing Awards judging panel, that represents the cream of online and multichannel retailing in the UK in 2013.

“To reach the commended list for the Internet Retailing Awards is a significant achievement and recognises the hard work that retailers have put in to achieving online and multichannel success,” he said. “Judges had a strongly held but nuanced view of the capabilities of these sector-leading companies, so each of these commended people are winners, held as the best in these categories by our expert judges. Our heartfelt congratulations go to them all, and we look forward to welcoming them all at the Internet Retailing Awards party. On the night, however, a first among equals will be awarded the overall winner in each category and will receive a trophy and the acclaim of their peers.”

RT @ogone: Congratulations to all those etailers shortlisted in the INTERNET RETAILING AWARDS goo.gl/hNQCN @etail #ecommerce #epa…

— Internet Retailing (@etail) June 3, 2013

Award sponsors have hailed the strength of the field, which they say represents the robust health of the UK online and multichannel industry.

Mark Adams, partner at Portaltech Reply, which is sponsoring the Omni Award, said: “We are delighted to see such a strong shortlist for this year’s Internet Retailing Awards. In particular the strength and depth of the UK’s Omni Channel retail proposition is driving positive change, opportunity and growth at a time when the economic backdrop is a concern to us all. It is this commitment to innovation and excellence in cross channel sales, marketing and customer servicing that will steer UK retail through these difficult times.”

Steve Dukes, head of PayLater, which is sponsoring the Innovation Award, said:  “It’s good to see a mix of traditional and up and coming brands making up this year’s commended list, showing that online retail is a space ripe for innovating  however long you’ve been in the business. We’re proud to be part of such a great event.”

Siobhán Géhin, associate partner at Kurt Salmon Associates, research partner on the awards, said: “This year we’re seeing a real broadening of the set of retailers in the commended list, reflecting the extent to which a wider group of retailers has started to invest very substantially behind ecommerce.

“We’re also seeing tremendous innovation by a much wider group of retailers in mobile, with a smaller group of retailers – tending to be those with significant budgets – investing in the more experimental area of in-store technology. It’s interesting to observe how many UK and European retailers are building international sales via ecommerce – the likes of ASOS, H&M and Wiggle come to mind.”

Names in the Internet Retailing Awards list of commended retailers will now go forward to a second round of voting in which the ultimate winners in each category will be decided. The judges will also name their overall winner in the Judges’ Award. And in due course we’ll also be asking our readers to vote on their overall winner in the Internet Retailing Award 2013.

Those final winners will be named at the Internet Retailing Awards party, to be held at SushiSamba restaurant, 663ft up in London’s Heron Tower. The glitzy event is set to attract retailers and professionals from across the UK industry. For more information and details of how to buy tickets, click here.

The Internet Retailing Awards judging panel comprised: Andy Harding, executive director, multichannel at House of Fraser; Tanya Lawler, vice president, UK trading at eBay; David Walmsley, director of multichannel development at Marks & Spencer; Michaelle Vanzella, consulting director, business development at Westfield; Simon Forster, multichannel director at Selfridges; Alison Lancaster, CMO at Kiddicare and marketing director, online non-food at Wm Morrison Supermarkets; Peter Fitzgerald, country sales director, Google UK; Donna Chen, group strategy, international online development, Alliance Boots; Eric Abensur, chief executive, Venda; Siobhán Géhin, associate partner at Kurt Salmon; Jon Kamaluddin, international director at Asos.com;

Jonathan Wall, group ecommerce director at Shop Direct Group; Shivani Tejuja, ecommerce and multichannel director at New Look; Alan Giles, chairman at Fat Face; Steve Robinson, customer director at B&Q; Guy Hipwell, coowner of Fashion156; Artemis Berry, senior director, content and community at Shop.org; and Ray Fowler, executive director, advisory, at Ernst & Young.

Internet Retailing Awards Commended List

Innovation

• Burberry
• Made.com
• M&S
• Top Shop

Omni

• Aurora
• Debenhams
• John Lewis
• Tesco

M-Retailing

• Amazon
• Debenhams
• Dominos
• Ebay marketplace
• Net a Porter/Mr Porter

IRIS

• Apple
• Burberry
• Dixons
• M&S

Customer

• House of Fraser
• John Lewis
• Lakeland
• Lovehoney

Capability

• Amazon
• ASOS
• B&Q/Screwfix/Tradepoint
• John Lewis

International

• ASOS
• Net a porter/Mr Porter
• Wiggle
• Zalando

Global

• ASOS
• H&M
• Net a porter/Mr Porter
• Tesco