Power Retail, a resource for Australian e-commerce insights and intelligence, hosted Australia’s ultimate online retail event, ‘All Star Bash’ last night. Held at the Crown Melbourne, it was a night to celebrate the ‘All Stars’ of digital retail and recognise their mark on the Australian industry.
Hosted by Hamish McLachlan, over 1,000 people were in attendance, making it the biggest All Star Bash yet! Leading solution providers and retailers were present, including Kmart, Catch, Adore Beauty, Woolworths, Coles, JB Hi-Fi, Kogan, THE ICONIC, Cotton On, CUE, and Appliances Online.
Each year, Power Retail recognises Australia’s Top 100 Online Retailers and announces category winners at this prestigious event. The Top 100, which is a part of their rolling Top 500 Online Retailer Rankings, comprises a mix of pureplay and omnichannel retailers, with the winners representing the best-of-breed leaders of the e-commerce industry.
Once again, Bunnings Warehouse and Woolworths went head-to-head for the number one title, while there was some considerable movement in the top 20 compared to last year. JB Hi-Fi climbed the rankings, making a noticeable jump from #10 to #4, due to adding a significant number of new BNPL options and increased site traffic. There was also some friendly rivalry with the two competing retail giants, with Myer taking the lead at #10, ahead of David Jones at #16. Interestingly, Michael Hill has gone from #40 to #20 with the addition of Click & Collect, an improved accessibility score and additional payment options.
Overall 20 per cent of the Top 100 retailers only introduced Click & Collect in 2020 or 2021, including pureplay retailers partnering with bricks and mortar locations, such as Catch. Similarly, 10% of the Top 100 retailers added product reviews to their sites in 2021.
Marieke Van Bruggen, Head of Data at Power Retail says, “Bunnings Warehouse have high traffic generally, but they have expanded their product offering to include dropship items, and significantly improved their UX with regards to things like localisation and store maps, which explains their top ranking. I believe page load speed, accessibility and NPS are going to be a key focus for the next iteration of the ranking, so I would recommend that retailers should focus on these areas in the year to come.”
Rounding out the top twenty in order are; Bunnings Warehouse, Woolworths, Kmart, JB Hi-Fi, Coles, Kogan, Target, Catch, Chemist Warehouse, Myer, Officeworks, Big W, IKEA, Cotton On, Microsoft, David Jones, Temple & Webster, Spotlight, The Good Guys and Michael Hill. To view a comprehensive list of winners and breakdown of scores, click here.
Nathan Brown, CEO of Global Marketplace says, “Australian businesses, employees and consumers, have gone through unprecedented levels of change throughout the pandemic, leaving many to wonder: what is normal anymore? However, the growth in online retail is here to stay. We have seen many companies doubling down on e-commerce and investing not just for profits today, but growth tomorrow. For retailers to maintain their relevance for consumers, they need to keep evolving and growing. It has been great to see the new loyalty programs (Catch – OnePass, Accent group – Hype DC LIMIT’D), investment in AI and machine learning (Temple & Webster and Adore Beauty), digital capabilities (Kmart re-platforming), digital resources (Officeworks) and personalisation (BCF).
A massive congratulations to Bunnings as the #1 Online Retailer. Congratulations to all the nominees and award winners, with a special call out to the Country Road Group with Trenery winning Most Improved Online Performance, but also having Mimco nominated in the same category!”
In developing the Top 100, Power Retail has created a ranking methodology which analyses retailer performance across the four key dimensions of the consumer lifecycle; Acquisition, Conversion, Fulfilment and Retention. This sophisticated, world-class ranking system incorporates over 3 million data points across 41 separate metrics to identify where retailers are succeeding, and where they can improve.
Metrics plugged into this model include search capabilities, shopper time on-site, accessibility, delivery options, payment options, pages viewed by session, site performance, ratio of mobile users, mobile app success, login capabilities and net promoter score. The end result is a weighted combination of these metrics and quantitative metrics from third-party sources.
A key component of the awards includes the announcement of the All Star Bash Award Category Winners. These were judged by leading retail experts, including Ally Feiam (Editor of Power Retail), Grant Arnott (Chief Innovation Officer of Power Retail), Professor Gary Mortimer (Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at QUT Business School), Alita Harvey-Rodriguez (Managing Director of MI Academy), Adam Posner (CEO and Founder of The Point of Loyalty), Dominique Lamb (CEO and Founder of National Retail Association), and Patrick Rechsteiner (Director, Chair, Digital Advisory Committee of PR Consulting & Advisory, Australian Retailers Association).
All Star Bash Award Category Winners:
- No.1 Online Retailer: Bunnings Warehouse
- Top Emerging Online Retailer: Lyre’s
- Most Improved Online Performance: Trenery
- Top Fashion & Accessories Retailer: Cotton On
- Best Email Marketing: Adore Beauty
- Top Home & Décor Retailer: Spotlight
- Top User Experience: Showpo
- Top Beauty Retailer: Chemist Warehouse
- Top Innovator: CUE
- Top Electrical & Office Retailer: JB Hi-Fi
- Top Small-Medium Retailer: Sportitude
- Top Sustainable Retailer: Biome
- Top Sports & Outdoor Retailer: Rebel
- Top Customer Experience: Appliances Online
- Top Department Store: Kmart
- Top Mobile Experience: Kathmandu
- Top Social Retailer: Showpo
- Top Online Only: Catch
- Top Personalisation: birdsnest
- Top Loyalty Program: Mecca
- Top Marketing Initiative: Wittner
- Subscription Commerce Platform: Who Gives A Crap
- Top Australian Marketplaces: Kogan
- All Star Legends: Naomi Simson and Ruslan Kogan
