Pictured are the 2023 category winners. Photo: Raul Mee
The Merchants' Association announces the category winners of the Retail Deed of the Year competition
"For more than ten years, the Merchants' Association has been awarding the Retail Deed of the Year prize to honour the most influential project of the year in the retail sector. Before the overall winner is announced, we recognise the winners of the sub-categories to highlight initiatives that have driven innovation or cooperation in the sector or brought benefits to customers. The most outstanding projects in the various categories are presented on the stage of the Retail Annual Congress, where the jury chooses the grand prix winner from among them," said Nele Peil, CEO of the Merchants' Association, explaining the logic behind the awards.
This year the Merchants' Association is announcing category winners in five categories:
1. Cooperation Project of the Year — "Will to Defend", the Ministry of Defence together with Coop Pank, A le Coq, Goldtime, Apotheka, Tere, Linnamäe Lihatööstus and others
"The Ministry of Defence launched the Will to Defend cooperation project, in which selected companies were given the right to brand their products and services with the Estonian Defence Forces' official digital camouflage pattern, in order to amplify across different parts of society the message that reservists are vital to Estonia's national defence. At the same time, the participating companies donate part of the sales of every product carrying the digital camouflage pattern to the Reservists' Fund, which supports reservists' fighting spirit and the strengthening of their combat capability.
To amplify the message, long-term cooperation agreements were signed with several key partners in the private sector, who have brought to market products carrying the official Defence Forces digital camouflage pattern and donate a share of the unit sales to the Reservists' Fund. Within the framework of the cooperation programme, Coop Pank launched the Kaardivägi card programme; A. le Coq the reservists' digital camouflage Arctic Sport sports drink and digital camouflage kvass; Goldtime the Will to Defend men's jewellery line; Balbiino the reservists' ice cream; Nordic Milk the reservists' 1.5 L milk; Apotheka a 12-product line of reservist food supplements; and Linnamäe Lihatööstus the reservists' canned meat."
In addition to the key partners mentioned, more than 230 private and public-sector institutions offered exclusive discounts to reservists during Reservist Week. Olerex deserves a special mention for producing 100,000 digital camouflage reservist coffee cups (sold out); Elron, which gave reservists free train travel; and Balsnack, which supported participants in the Spring Storm exercise with 20,000 products.
2. Innovation of the Year — "Unstaffed Noblessner Express store", Rimi Eesti Food AS
In the spring, Rimi opened the first unstaffed grocery store in Estonia, taking a completely new approach in terms of both technical solutions and customer experience. Efficiency, shopping convenience, customer focus and proximity are key concepts that are becoming increasingly important for every retailer, and the Noblessner grocery store is an example of a development that supports exactly these areas. The store gives the community a fast and convenient shopping option with a product range tailored to the area's needs, and pooling the resources needed to run a grocery store opens up significant savings as well.
The Noblessner grocery store is the first stand-alone convenience store of its kind, where customers scan their own goods and pay for them at the checkout with a bank card, without having to interact with staff on site. The store carries about 600 products needed for everyday life. Over the past six months, Rimi has tracked customers' shopping behaviour in the new store, adjusted the assortment based on their feedback and can say that customers have warmly embraced the innovative format; the company sees potential here for bringing Rimi grocery stores to customers in all three Baltic countries in places where they could not previously have hoped for one.
3. Brand Renewal of the Year — "Kaubamaja's new Toidumaailm in Tartu", Kaubamaja AS
The Toidumaailm at Tartu Kaubamaja had operated successfully for 19 years, but it needed a fresh breath of life. To deliver that, Kaubamaja started from a completely blank page. With a desire to give southern Estonians the most enjoyable shopping experience possible, the company carried out thorough preparatory research: which products do different customers buy? How do shoppers picking up lunch move around the store? How about those celebrating something? In what order do they choose products? Four years of work resulted in Estonia's most carefully thought-out grocery concept, designed precisely around customers' needs and wishes. For example, cheeses and the olive bar sit next to the wine section, and ice cream is alongside the other desserts. The heart of the store is, of course, the Kaubamaja Köök, which operates like a restaurant in its own right, cooking breakfasts, lunches and dinners on site.
The new Toidumaailm also offers more exclusive and local products: the best seafood, meat, cheese and confectionery selection in Tartu, served from new, more energy- and environmentally-efficient refrigeration equipment.
4. New Concept of the Year — "Integration of parcel lockers with a fitting room", Solarise Keskus AS
In June, Solaris Centre opened a parcel locker area unique in Estonia that lets you try on clothes ordered online in a fitting room and, if necessary, return them to the seller on the spot. The idea was born from a desire to solve the customer's problem of getting home and discovering that the item ordered online does not fit, and then having to take the parcel back to a parcel locker. It is that annoying feeling when you discover in front of the mirror at home that the cut of an item ordered from an online shop does not work, and often the package ends up just sitting at home, either through lack of time or lack of effort. With the new parcel locker area, we have found a solution to that problem and added both fitting rooms and a packing area, so the customer can try the item on, do a turn in front of the mirror and, if necessary, tape the package back up and drop it off at a parcel locker.
The redesigned parcel locker area at Solaris Centre, with its fitting room and packing zone, is on the ground floor. At the moment, customers can have items delivered to and returned from Itella, DPD and DHL parcel lockers at Solaris; by the end of the year, Estonia's first indoor Omniva parcel locker will join the area as well."
5. Development Project of the Year — "The food card project across Estonia", Rimi Eesti Food AS
A couple of years ago, Estonia's Ministry of Social Affairs decided that the process of distributing food aid could be made more dignified for those in need, so they could buy the kind of food they want, and at the moment they need it. Rimi was the only retail chain to take up the challenge and bid in the procurement. The unique food card development, which has won recognition across Europe, was carried out by the entire Rimi Baltics team.
At a time when there is heated public debate about how sustainability and social responsibility are merely a burden on businesses, the food card project is a clear example of how it can in fact benefit all sides. Rimi has gained additional turnover from it, the state has found a dignified way to support those in need, and people can use the assistance they receive to buy exactly what they want.
A total of 21 projects entered the Retail Deed of the Year competition. From the nominees submitted, the category winners were chosen by an 18-member jury. The jury included retail-sector executives and representatives from public bodies, academia, service design and the media.
The overall winner of the Retail Deed of the Year and the audience favourite will be announced on 9 October 2024 at the Retail Annual Congress, held at T1 Venue.