Search for Auckland’s top shop is on

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Search for Auckland’s top shop is on

The search for Auckland’s best shop is set to begin next week.

New Zealand’s leading retail excellence awards, TOP SHOP, kick off on Monday 28 April with the organiser - the New Zealand Retailers Association, calling for entries from Auckland shops.

Association chief executive John Albertson says the awards are open to all shops proud of their customer service, the way their shop looks and how they run their business.

“TOP SHOP has been around 21 years now and has a well established track record of improving customer service,” Mr Albertson says.

“For the shops, TOP SHOP is an opportunity to concentrate on service, bond their staff and cost effectively benchmark themselves against other similar shops.”

TOP SHOP is popular among Auckland shop owners with more than half of owners contacted about TOP SHOP 2007 choosing to take part. More than three quarters of Auckland entrants said they would take part again this year.

Mr Albertson says winning the award not only gives public recognition to the best, but also has been proven to make a difference regarding where people shop with winners reporting more customers coming through their doors.

“Winning TOP SHOP last year was huge for us,” says Baksho Craig, co-owner of Born natural mother and baby store in Remuera, winner of the Auckland 2007 TOP SHOP Start Up Business and Innovation Excellence in Retail categories.

“People came to the shop to see what it was all about. They came in and said the win was fantastic.

“It was an opportunity for us to celebrate the business itself and was an acknowledgement of the work we are doing with mothers and babies.

The overall winner of the Auckland 2007 TOP SHOP was the health and beauty boutique L’Occitane En Provence in Botany Town Centre.

A key test for TOP SHOP entries is the mystery shopper exercise during which staff from a specialist mystery shopper company make unannounced visits to entrants’ shops to provide judges with information on criteria such as service and presentation.

Other criteria include doing the basics well, innovation and the ‘wow’ factor.

TOP SHOP is open to all retailers and entries for the Auckland regional awards close on 20 June. The winners will be announced on September 23.

The awards also run in the Waikato, Wellington and Christchurch regions. Entries for these awards open over the next month.

Shops enter in categories such as supermarket, fashion, footwear and accessories and start up. From the winners from these categories, an overall winner is selected.

ENDS

Web: www.retail.org.nz/topshop.html

NOTES
The Auckland region is Pukekohe to Orewa. The northern boundary is Orewa on the east coast and Kumeu in the west. In the south the eastern boundary is Whitford through to Clevedon and heading west takes in Papakura and Pukekohe with the western most town being Waiuku.

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