Retail Insider ‘Transforming Retail Awards 2020’ Shortlist Announced

Retail Insider is delighted to reveal the shortlist for its fourth annual ‘Transforming Retail’ Awards of 2020 kindly supported by Openpay and Womble Bond Dickinson.

The aim of the awards is to showcase the very best examples of innovation across the sector as decided by our independent panel of judges. This year’s panel comprised: Paul Wilkinson, senior product manager for Alexa shopping at Amazon; Martin Newman, founder of Customer First Group; Lawrence Shaw, CEO of Sitemorse; Simon Calver, former head of venture investments at BGF; Edwina Dunn, CEO of Starcount; Sarah McVittie, co-founder of Dressipi; and Dave Elston, digital consultant.

The shortlist below highlights the breadth of innovation in the retail sector and we are confident that some of the advances listed here really will be transforming the way people use shops and shop online in the years to come.

Obviously, this year many of the shortlisted developments have been driven or influenced by the pandemic. As a recent guest on a Retail Insider Zoom Cocktail Hour event noted there has been years’ worth of innovation squeezed into a couple of months in 2020 and the judges saw ample evidence of that in the entries.

The Transforming Retail Awards truly show the amazing ways that retailers have responded to this incredibly difficult time with new ideas and a can-do spirit that the judges and Retail Insider have found very uplifting.

I would like to congratulate all the companies on the shortlist and to thank all those retailers and tech companies that entered the 2020 Awards. We know the judges very much enjoyed reading the entries and many of the categories were closely contested but only the top three (or four if tied) can be shortlisted so in no particular order the shortlisted entrants are:   

Best Connected Experience of the Year

Samsung KX

OneStock/Whistles

John Lewis -virtual experiences

Delivery Innovation of the Year

Swyft

DPD – combined innovations

Polymer Logistics

Most Intelligent Use of Data

3D Look

Optimizely/Farfetch

Fuller’s /Wagestream

For Good Causes

Most Promising Newcomer of the Year

DNANudge

Stitched

Infarm

Sustainability Innovation of the Year

HURR Collective

DPD – sustainable vehicles

Lost Stock

The shortlist is the result of the work of the independent judging panel and Retail Insider would like to thank the judges as well as the sponsors of the awards for their time and support. For obvious reasons there can be no physical awards ceremony this year. However, the winners will be announced on September 24 and the news and results shared on the Retail Insider website and through social media channels.

Glynn Davis, editor of Retail Insider