Clothing retailer A|wear has won the inaugural eCommerce Website of the Year 2012 award by Retail Excellence Ireland (REI). A|wear won the Best eCommerce Innovator Award category and went on to win the overall eCommerce award. It will receive a digital marketing campaign worth €20,000 as well as strategic marketing advice from Google, which sponsored the award.
Siopa.com won the Best eCommerce Exporter award while O’Brien’s Wine, Beer and Spirits scooped the Best eCommerce Customer Service Experience award. McElhinney’s department store in Ballybofey, Co Donegal won the overall National Retail Store of the Year 2012 award.
Commenting on the award, Sam Bain, Head of eCommerce for A|wear, said: “We have spent a lot of time and energy making our website a really rich experience.”
From left: Kevin Jephson, REI Chairman; Sam Bain, Head of eCommerce at A|Wear; Deirdre McIntyre, Google; Jo Collins, Independent News & Media and Breige Grogan, A|Wear
The company aimed to connect with customers with regular style advice and fashion features: “We were also one of the first to put brand and catwalk videos on our website.”
The award winners were selected from these shortlisted sites in three categories:
- Best eCommerce Exporter Butlers Chocolates; The Kilkenny Group and Siopa.com
- Best eCommerce Customer Experience Heatons; O’Brien’s Wine, Beer and Spirits and Unlimited Fragrances
- Best eCommerce Innovator A|Wear; Champion Sports and Meteor
AMAS was selected by REI to design the rigorous assessment process and evaluate both the longlisted and shortlisted companies.
