Search for Auckland’s TOP SHOP is on

Search for Auckland’s TOP SHOP is on …

New Zealand’s leading retail excellence awards, TOP SHOP® makes a return to Auckland this week, with the organiser, the New Zealand Retailers Association, looking for entries from all Auckland shops.

John Albertson, Association Chief Executive, said that it was great to see the return of the awards with new categories and sponsors. The Association was very excited to provide retailers with the opportunity to participate in this influential event once again.

“With so much emphasis on discounting as the ‘tool of choice’ for many stores in the last twelve months, the Association is keen to encourage retailers to look at alternative ways to get the optimum share of the consumer dollar; one of the ways is to stand above and beyond their peers on customer service.”

“Whilst we know that customer service is much more difficult to measure, by entering the TOP SHOP® competition, and undergoing the mandatory mystery shop that goes along with it, we believe the resulting report will indicate to retailers whether their staff are meeting the needs of their customers better than the competitor down the road.”

“This year, as always, we’re looking for retailers whose staff offer fantastic customer service, take a pride in their store and presentation and have that something extra that keep their customers coming back for more. Once again, doing the basics well is still important.”

John Albertson reminds retailers that the awards are open to all shops within the Auckland TOP SHOP® region.

In Auckland the awards are now in the 22nd year and have a well established track record of assisting retailers to improve their customer service still further.

TOP SHOP® is popular among Auckland shop owners with more than half of owners contacted about TOP SHOP® 2008 choosing to take part. More than three quarters of Auckland 2008 entrants said they would take part again in 2010.

Mr Albertson says winning the award not only gives public recognition to the best, but also has been proven to make a difference regarding where people shop, with TOP SHOP® winners reporting more customers coming through their doors.

‘Winning Top Shop in our category after only nine months of opening, significantly boosted our brand awareness and position as a leading baby and maternity boutique.

Given this was awarded just as the recession kicked in, we have no doubt it has contributed to us surviving what has been an incredibly tough time in retail. Winning the award was a real honour and acknowledged our fantastic team and our commitment to the overall customer experience.

Rae & Ben Lightfoot, Owners Bay Bee Cino, Newmarket, Auckland.
Winner of Fashion, Footwear & Accessories category TOP SHOP® 2008

The overall winner of the Auckland 2008 TOP SHOP® was New World Supermarket in Albany with their unique selling proposition listed as being “to provide a unique shopping experience which excels expectations in quality, service and produce in a family environment for customers and team members.”

A key test for TOP SHOP® entries is the mystery shopper exercise during which staff from a specialist mystery shopper company makes unannounced visits to entrants’ shops to provide judges with information on criteria such as service and presentation.

TOP SHOP® is open to all retailers and entries for the Auckland regional awards close at 5.00 pm on Friday 9 July. The winners will be announced at a black-tie awards dinner on Tuesday 12 October, 2010 to be held at the SkyCity Convention Centre.

The awards are also running currently in Christchurch and Wellington and the Waikato competition opens next Monday 24 May 2010.

Shops enter in categories such as large format, which this year includes supermarkets, lifestyle and wellbeing and, new this year Online Retailing and Sustainable Retailing. An overall winner is selected from seven of the categories and announced at the awards dinner.

ENDS

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