It’s raining awards at the Retailer of the Year election

ABN AMRO sponsors this annual event because of the importance of retail to the bank. A total of seven awards were granted, both audience and industry awards. Let’s check in on the winners. Boukje Taphoorn, Director of Marketing at Bol.com, Margreet van Schaijck, Europe Brand Manager for NL & BE at Lush and Eric Habraken, manager at Soup & Bakery De Verspillingsfabriek were happy to answer our questions. 

Can you tell us more about the road from nomination to winning the award?  

Boukje: “Bol.com wants to be consumers’ starting point for shopping. To emphasise this, and to honour our ambition to win the Retailer of the Year award, we’ve made leaps into making the lives of our 11 million customers easier this past year. Every day, we share our knowledge, whether it’s by helping our partners with a growth programme so they can increase their profit or by giving our customers a broader selection of products. Sharing our knowledge is something we’ve learned on the road to the award and we will certainly keep doing so.” 

Margreet: “Because of Lush’s activist nature and ethical values and the changing public opinion, Lush’s packaging-free vision has become widely known. We used this as the spearhead of our nomination and further developed it. 

Eric: “The nomination gave our company and staff renewed energy. We took the nomination quite seriously, and that was reflected in our pitch.” 

What did winning the award bring you? 

All three entrepreneurs said the best part of winning is getting recognition for what their companies do. Eric appreciates that the attention his company has received has resulted in company waste being put high on the agenda. Boukje followed up by explaining Bol.com’s sustainability plans: climate-neutral online shopping in 2025 and ‘wasted’ products will be refurbished and offered as such to clients. 

Margreet appreciates the platform the award has provided them to inspire other retailers in the field of sustainability. 

Do you have any tips for next year’s potential successors? 

Boukje: “Dare to ask yourself critical questions: who are you doing this for, and why? How can you improve every day? For both your clients and, in our case, the 20,000 entrepreneurs selling their products through Bol.com.” Margreet: “My tip would be to stay ahead of the consumer. We started selling our shampoo bar more than 20 years ago. At the time, consumers had to get used to it, but now we’re selling more shampoo bars than liquid shampoo.” 

Eric adds: “Look at what sets your company apart and try to emphasise that. And stay honest with yourself, your clients and your staff.” 

 Want to know about the winners of other categories? Check https://retaileroftheyear.nl/ (in Dutch only).