A new award for 2022 - Community Initiative of the Year recognises an idea or initiative carried out by a retailer/store team that has helped their local community. Have you helped your community in a big way? Have you come up with a new idea to help groups near you? We want to hear from you. Entries must show how the store team has identified a particular issue in their community and worked to help remedy/overcome it.

Your entry should describe how you are working with your store to help better your local community or the area surrounding your store.

The Community Retailer of the Year category is open to all retailers who care about their local areas and want to use every resource at their disposal to help it.

Entries must demonstrate:

• A knowledge of an issue affecting your community and how you’ve helped tackle it
• Links to the local community beyond the traditional retailer/customer relationship
• What investments (financial or otherwise) have been made in the community 
• Evidence of employing from within the community
• Working with local charities and groups to improve the community
  

The Convenience Rising Star Award is open to retailers of all ages who have opened their first store or become manager in the past three years. As well as examining sales results and customer engagement, the judging panel will be looking for examples of innovation from entrants, particularly around taking a new approach to any retailing challenge. Entries must demonstrate:

• An enthusiastic and innovative approach to convenience retailing, be it overall or overcoming a specific challenge
• The ambition to want to improve the entire sector with their ideas and work ethic
• Evidence of how their approach has benefited the business from a financial and engagement point of view

This award recognises retailers that have implemented a successful delivery service that provides the dual function of serving communities and driving sales. Entries must demonstrate:

• Evidence of a successful delivery service that has either been created or significantly expanded in 2021
• Proof of a system that is fit for purpose for the size and scale of the business. Can be a partnership with delivery partner or run completely on their own
• How they’ve used delivery to grow their business via sales increases, upselling, community outreach
• Effective communication of the delivery service to existing and new customers
  

Convenience stores have a big opportunity to satisfy customers and build sales with a compelling food to go offer, including sandwiches, hot food, impulse items and drinks to go, with solutions for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks throughout the day. This award will celebrate the leader in the field.

Entries must demonstrate:

• Strong sales results in food to go (evidence of contribution to store’s overall figures needed)
• How it manages waste
• How it markets its food to go offering at various times of the day
• What products it incorporates into its offering
• Innovations within the category
  

A single store or part of a group of 9 stores or fewer under the same ownership, trading under a symbol or retailer’s own brand; (1,500 – 3,000sq ft in size).

Entries must demonstrate:

• Sales growth 
• Examples of investment in the business
• Outline key product categories/store strengths
• Explain customer base and how they’ve been engaged with high store standards (appearance, cleanliness availability, POS, staffing)
• What points of difference the store has to competition
• Use of technology
• Use of digital (social media, online presence)
• What additional services they offer (home delivery etc)
  

 Any store larger than 3,000sq ft in selling space, regardless of ownership or retail brand.

Entries must demonstrate:

• Sales growth 
• Examples of investment in the business
• Outline key product categories/store strengths
• Explain customer base and how they’ve been engaged with
• High store standards (appearance, cleanliness availability, POS, staffing)
• What points of difference the store has to competition
• Use of technology
• Use of digital (social media, online presence)
• What additional services they offer (home delivery etc)
  

Part of a group of 10 stores or more under the same ownership, or any store trading under a retail brand as part of a franchise programme; (1,500 – 3,000sq ft in size).

Entries must demonstrate:

• Sales growth 
• Examples of investment in the business
• Outline key product categories/store strengths
• Explain customer base and how they’ve been engaged with
• High store standards (appearance, cleanliness availability, POS, staffing)
• What points of difference the store has to competition
• Use of technology Use of digital (social media, online presence) 
• What additional services they offer (home delivery etc)
  

This award is open to stores that have opened from scratch, or re-opened after a significant remodelling, during the calendar year 2021. This award will be given to the store which, in the opinion of the judges, is the best example of a modern convenience store and is open to stores of all sizes, and any ownership structure.

Entries must demonstrate:

• How sales have performed against projections for the store since opening
• What innovations have been introduced and why
• How the new/remodelled store has been marketed to customers
• Explain competition in the area
• What learnings from previous sites were brought to this one (where applicable)
  

This is a unique opportunity to share the fantastic work achieved by team members who go the extra mile to help their local communities, raise money for national/local charities, and demonstrates impressive entrepreneurial spirit by suggesting profit-generating ideas.

Candidates must demonstrate:

• Excellent customer service by going above and beyond the ‘sale’
• That they have responsibilities in the business that make them essential to the store
• Experience of mentoring others in the business ideas that have helped the store become a bigger part of the community
• Evidence of fundraising activities that they have created and delivered successfully

Any store smaller than 1,500sq ft in selling space, regardless of ownership or retail brand.

Entries must demonstrate:

• Sales growth
• Examples of investment in the business
• Outline key product categories/store strengths
• Explain customer base and how they’ve been engaged with
• High store standards (appearance, cleanliness availability, POS, staffing)
• What points of difference the store has to competition
• Use of technology
• Use of digital (social media, online presence)
• What additional services they offer (home delivery etc)
  

With sustainability and plastic high on shoppers’ agenda, this is a chance to show how much you have improved your store’s environmental credentials, with the award taking into account factors including energy use, waste management and packaging reduction.

Entries must demonstrate: 

• What sustainability initiatives have been introduced over the past 12 months and evidence of results from these initiatives
• How sustainability within the business is communicated to customers
• Investment in sustainability throughout the store (technology, training, range)
• How they have displayed sustainability credentials throughout its supply chain by product range
  

This award will be selected by a panel of retailers from all the entries based on the information provided in your entry as a whole. No additional material is required, but make sure your entry shows you in the best possible light and you might be in with a chance of winning!

This award will be selected by our panel of expert judges from all the entries of our other self-entry awards. No additional information will need to be provided, but ensure you are considering this award while writing your entries.