Are you Australia's favourite online retailer?

The Australia Post People’s Choice Award is back this year to honour eCommerce merchants who continue to deliver on customer promises.

Online shopping reached new heights in 2020. Around 80% of households – nearly 9 million – made an online purchase, with Australians spending $50.46 billion online.¹ Aussie businesses adapted quickly to service this sharp increase, with many scaling up existing digital efforts or creating new online shopping options.

After putting the Australia Post People’s Choice Award on hold last year to focus on honouring 2020’s Unsung Heroes of eCommerce – Pantry to Plate’s Melissa Murat² and Esther & Co.’s Eunsoo Jeong³ – the honour is back with three categories this year:

• Small Retailer under $100,000 annual revenue
• Small Retailer over $100,000 and under $1m annual revenue
• Large Retailer over $1,000,000 annual revenue

After last year’s digital event, this year’s winners will be announced on 22 July at the Online Retail Conference Gala Dinner in Sydney.

Opening new doors

Past winners of the Australia Post People’s Choice Award say the recognition has helped their companies grow.

Naked Wines revolutionised Australia's wine industry⁴ by focusing on the user experience. Its subscription-based business model allows customers to help forward-fund independent winemakers so they can make better drops that cost customers less.

A few years after its 2012 launch, Naked Wines took home the first ORIAs People’s Choice Award in 2015 – and the benefits that came with it.

“Winning the award opened a lot of new opportunities for us,” says Co-Founder and Managing Director Greg Banbury. “We attracted new logistics partners, talented employees and exciting new business partnerships.

“The publicity was also a great perk, not just with consumers, but also with the other businesses in the room on the night.”

Emma Kruger is the Founder of Riff Raff & Co., which produces baby sleep toys that are soft, washable and play white noise. She says the company’s 2019 ORIAS People’s Choice Award win⁵ also provided her team a great opportunity to meet online retail peers.

“Others in the industry started reaching out to us,” Emma says. “It gave us a much-needed boost in our network, and we started meeting some really interesting people.”

Ryan Gracie, Head of Marketing for Catch Group, says the business’ 2016 People’s Choice Award win⁶ helped secure its foothold in Australian eCommerce. This can be of even more value to those eligible for the new People’s Choice Award for smaller online retailers.

“To be credited with a People’s Choice Award is a huge jump-start to the success of any business because it gives them credibility and elevates them in the eye of the consumer,” Ryan says.

Understanding these consumer perceptions is key, says Kogan Founder and CEO Ruslan Kogan. He says his company’s three ORIAs wins⁷ served as an important benchmark for his team.

“These awards helped us understand that our work and efforts are resonating with our customers,” he says.

“It’s fantastic to know we’re doing something right and our efforts are being recognised. So if your business values the feedback of your customers, then you should absolutely register for this award.”

Register now

Registration is open from now until 4 June. Register today to enter into one of the three categories. You’ll then receive a merchant toolkit, which includes promotional assets you can use to help you connect with your customers and promote your People’s Choice Award campaign by encouraging them to vote for you.

We’ll also be offering an incentive to help entice your customers to vote. Each voter will be entered into a drawing to win one of five prizes of 250,000 Qantas Points.

Register today and get involved in celebrating the incredible efforts of Australian retailers during a record-breaking year of eCommerce.