On 6 October at the Retail Annual Congress, the winner of the Retail Deed of the Year 2021 will be announced. Let's get to know the three nominees who received the most votes.
"While last year the nominees mainly featured success stories about coping with the COVID crisis, this year various business developments dominated," Nele Peil, managing director of the Merchants' Association, commented on the candidates submitted for the award. "Highlights included digital solutions, new business models, environmental projects and sector-wide agreements. There doesn't appear to be a single dominant theme. Companies are returning to their usual activities — innovation, business model development and long-term thinking. It is great to see that some companies have made the top three for the second time. Both Selver and COOP are familiar names in the top three, which shows that our domestic companies are actively pursuing innovations recognised across the market," Peil added.
The top three and the winner were chosen from the nominees by a 16-member jury. The jury comprised retail leaders and representatives of state agencies and the media.
Here are the TOP 3 finalists.
COOP. Stores partly powered by solar energy
Category: Brought positive changes to society and/or the company; Contributed to the overall development and image of Estonian retail.
Instead of paying dividends, COOP's regional cooperatives reinvest all earnings back into improving the quality of life in their communities, including largely into developing stores. Thanks to this, modern retail networks exist in Estonia outside the major cities as well.
Investments in a modern store network have, among other things, also been guided by sustainable development goals, and 29 COOP buildings already run partly on solar power. The total capacity of COOP's solar parks is 2.8 MW, with which COOP stores produce as much renewable electricity as 750 households consume in an entire year.
Over the past two years, COOP has opened or rebuilt from scratch 15 grocery stores across Estonia, mostly outside the major cities: in Käina (Hiiumaa), Sadala and Mustvee (Jõgevamaa), Salme and Orissaare (Saaremaa), Antsla (Võrumaa), Narva-Jõesuu and Jõhvi (Ida-Virumaa), Mellistes, Märja and Alatskivi (Tartumaa), Mõisavahe and Raadimõisa in the city of Tartu, Peetri (Harjumaa) and Mustamäe in Tallinn.
Quality of life outside major cities depends on infrastructure, an important part of which is access to groceries. Living away from the city has long ceased to mean farming for one's own food; it can mean life in scenic surroundings where the local store offers a pleasant shopping environment and a wide range of products — and that is exactly what COOP delivers.
Selver AS. Nationwide e-store home delivery service
Category: Brought positive changes to society and/or the company; Contributed to the overall development and image of Estonian retail.
Selver was the first in Estonia to extend its e-store home delivery service nationwide (covering all counties, including the larger islands). As a result of the rapid expansion, Selver now employs over 100 couriers and serves Estonian customers daily with nearly 60 specially refrigerated and frozen delivery vans. With this, Selver is the undisputed market leader in Estonian online grocery. Picking and delivery hubs were set up in 11 different Selver stores across Estonia, further integrating the e-store with brick-and-mortar retail and making it an everyday part of the work in regular stores.
This very rapid expansion of an essential service took place in the middle of the COVID crisis, when demand was high not only in major cities but everywhere, even in the smallest villages across Estonia. The hypermarket's rich assortment (over 11,000 products) is now available to all Estonian residents.
The Merchants' Association and its members. Variable-hours contracts pilot project in retail
Category: Brought positive changes to society and/or the company; Stood out for caring for employees and improving working conditions.
Together with its members, the Merchants' Association represented the retail sector in five-way negotiations with social partners and the state, as a result of which Estonia will now spend the next two years piloting variable-hours contracts specifically in retail. Variable-hours contracts are employment contracts in which a range of working hours is agreed instead of a fixed number. This guarantees employees a workload that suits them, while giving the employer a simple way to offer additional hours. The decision whether to take on extra hours rests with the employee.
If successful, the variable-hours contracts pilot will hopefully also help modernise and add flexibility to employment relationships in other sectors.
The winner of the Retail Deed of the Year will be announced on 6 October 2021 at the Retail Annual Congress.
PHOTO: Presentation of the Retail Deed of the Year 2020 award to Maxima Eesti
Author: Raul Mee