Alea iacta est – the dice have been cast. The winners of the “Best Retailer of the Year” competition have been chosen and we would like to congratulate all the companies that have made it onto the podium. For us, this is a particularly exciting and unusual project, which we really enjoyed. We are happy to give you a glimpse behind the scenes in this Insights article. After all, an election like this is not a foregone conclusion …
So what exactly was our task? In an online survey, we asked consumers in Germany and Austria to vote for their favorite retailers. A total of around 42,300 ratings were submitted in Germany and 44,650 in Austria in various categories. As in previous years, retailers were able to call on their customers to vote. In addition, as a market research institute, we also invited people to vote via a population-representative panel in the participating countries. Thanks to this extended method, the consumer vote was underpinned by a representative survey, making it even more meaningful for retailers.
The award serves as an indicator
In the survey, consumers voted for their favorite retail chains and online stores in various categories. The survey assessed aspects that are particularly important to consumers when making purchases, such as price, service, product range and expertise.
Consumers use the award as a guide when selecting a place to shop. For the retail chains, the seal is an important instrument for customer loyalty, new customer acquisition and for strategic decisions in quality management. The award is recognized by both retailers and consumers as a reliable label.
A look at the leaderboard
After the evaluations were completed, the following winners were determined in Germany in ten categories:
Germany
| Category | Retailer |
|---|---|
| Hardware stores – Stationary | toom Baumarkt |
| Ladies’ fashion – Stationary | C&A |
| Ladies’ fashion – Online | Bonprix |
| Discounter – Stationary | Lidl |
| Drugstores – Stationary | dm |
| Electronics store– Stationary | Media Markt |
| General stores – Online | Tchibo |
| Online pharmacies | Shop Apotheke |
| Opticians – Stationary | Fielmann |
| Supermarkets – Stationary | Globus |
In Austria, winners were chosen in nine categories:
Austria
| Category | Retailer |
|---|---|
| Ladies’ fashion – Stationary | C&A |
| Discounter – Stationary | Lidl |
| Drugstores – Stationary | dm |
| electronics store– Staionary | Conrad |
| General stores – Online | Eduscho/Tchibo |
| Online pharmacies | Shop Apotheke |
| Home – Stationary | Action |
| Supermarkets – Stationary | Globus |
The overall winner in Germany across all categories is toom Baumarkt, in Austria Lidl. Congratulations!!!
For the first time this year, winners were awarded with different special prizes. Below are all the winners of the special awards from both countries:
| Special Price | Germany | Austria |
|---|---|---|
| Best Franchise Company of the Year | Fressnapf | – |
| Best Retailer of the Year – Service | Fielmann | Hofer |
| Best Retailer of the Year – Customer loyalty | toom Baumarkt | Hofer |
| Best Retailer of the Year – Sustainability | C&A | Lidl |
A very exciting election lies behind us. In the discounter category in particular, it was a close race for first place in Austria between Lidl and Hofer, which Lidl ultimately won by a narrow margin. On the other hand, two special prizes went to Hofer for service and customer loyalty. Some retailers managed to win twice and landed on the winners‘ podiums in both countries, including Lidl, C&A, dm, Tchibo and Shop Apotheke. We are already looking forward to next year and are very excited to see who will be among the winners again. If you are interested in more details and would like to take a look at the website, you can do so on the respective country page:
www.besterhaendlerdesjahres.de and www.besterhaendlerdesjahres.at.
