At the recently held World Retail Congress, Swedish apparel retailer H&M and Japanese garment marketer Fast Retailing bagged the 'International Retailer of the Year’ award and ‘Retailer of the Year’ award, respectively.
Finalists in the fray for the ‘International Retailer of the Year’ award were the likes of Aldi, Burberry, Costco, Fast Retailing, Ikea, Inditex, Primark, Walgreens and Alliance Boots and Lidl (Schwartz).
Those shortlisted for the ‘Retailer of the Year’ award were: Aldi, Dixons Retail, H&M, John Lewis Partnership, Macy’s, Michael Kors, Nordstrom and Sun Art Retail.
In giving the award to H&M, the jury said, “With a truly global concept, we chose this year’s winner for its wide-ranging growth strategies. H&M has not only opened strongly in a huge number of markets, but is one of the few to open in both the southern and northern hemispheres.”
They also praised H&M for innovating and maintaining a strong financial performance, and launching new concepts.
Fast Retailing won the award on the strength of growth and execution. The jury said Fast Retailing has backed its ambitious expansion objectives with very impressive sales growth.
The judges also liked that it has demonstrated itself a very human face through both its store environments and staff engagement. The mix of quality and price made for a compelling offer, said the judges.
The ‘Outstanding Leadership’ award was won by the duo of Natalie Massenet & Mark Sebba from the Net-A-Porter Group.
In a break with precedent, the special ‘Outstanding Leadership’ award was presented jointly to Natalie and Mark in recognition of their exceptional skills and vision in creating Net-A-Porter, the world’s premier online luxury retailer.
"Till date, all previous winners have been individuals, but it was felt that the partnership between Natalie and Mark justified this joint award,” the jury explained.
Other achievements which caught the eyes of the jury were: Outnet.com, the most fashionable fashion outlet, and Mr Porter, the online retail destination for men’s style. (AR)
