A host of retailers have claimed titles at the 2012 Australian Retail Awards including Oroton, Pandora, Lenard\u2019s Chicken and eyeclarity, which was named Independent Retailer of the Year.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The awards, hosted by the Australian Retailers Association, were presented this morning at a breakfast, where attendants heard from Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The award for 2012 Independent Retailer of the Year was presented to eyeclarity, an optical retailer offering professional eye care and eyewear fashion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since the original store opened in 1986, eyeclarity has grown to encompass five stores and has won a number of industry awards.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman, eyeclarity encapsulates the essence of what it is to be a successful independent retailer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEyeclarity\u2026 punches well above its weight when it comes to carving out a niche market and responding to consumers\u2019 needs both now and in the future,\u201d Zimmerman said in a statement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jewellery chain Pandora was named 2012 Australian Retailer of the Year, while Lenard\u2019s Chicken was named 2012 Australian Retail Innovator of the Year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPandora is a well-established retailer and has used product innovation, concept stores and a watertight marketing strategy to expand its brand offering and stand out,\u201d Zimmerman said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kate Gorman, business development manager of The Realise Group, which sponsored the innovator award, commended Lenard\u2019s Chicken on its efforts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201c[Lenard\u2019s Chicken] launched a system which delivered improvements across the entire business including operations, profitability, [and] franchisee and staff satisfaction,\u201d Gorman said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s this type of innovation that helps retail businesses make leaps forward, even in tough market conditions. It delivers efficiencies, which obviously impact the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cProviding customers with what they want, when they want it, and allowing staff to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time with customers are crucial ingredients in a successful retail operation, and this innovation delivered on all of these.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jeanswest was named Australian Retail Employer of the Year, while Oroton was named 2012 Australian Multichannel Retailer of the Year, one of two new awards introduced this year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zimmerman said Oroton is to be commended for its insight into the needs of tech-savvy consumers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOroton has left no stone unturned when it comes to connecting with new and existing customers on their terms and in the spaces they operate, which include cyberspace,\u201d Zimmerman said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hamish Moline of eBay, which sponsored the multichannel retailer award, said the Oroton brand is well known for superior quality, fashion and beautiful merchandising.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWalking into an Oroton shop front has always provided a delightful retail experience,\u201d Moline said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThis experience now carries to all of their online properties, making a mobile, desktop, tablet or in-store experience as special and consistent as one another.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThey stand out from the crowd and are well positioned to meet the needs of today\u2019s hyper-connected consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A host of retailers have claimed titles at the 2012 Australian Retail Awards including Oroton, Pandora, Lenard\u2019s Chicken and eyeclarity,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}