2021 RTIH retail technology awards: Best Coronavirus Innovation shortlist announced

Burger King, Qvalon, Red Ant and Scantranx are among the nominees in the Best Coronavirus Innovation category at the 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The pandemic has had a major impact on the way that we shop and the way that retailers operate.

This award, sponsored by Critizr, will go to the company who has best turned to technology to solve the challenges presented by the Covid-19 era, improving in-store and/or online experiences for both staff and customers.

2021 shortlist as follows:

Burger King/Qvalon

Qvalon worked with Burger King Russia to put into a mobile application all the business processes that regulate and monitor the quality of cleaning and janitorial services, and deployed special digital checklists to ensure compliance to all Covid related hygiene and safety standards and protocols.

Halla

When Covid-19 forced consumers to stay home for much of 2020, they logged online in droves to order their groceries. But, while online grocery shopping enjoyed 300% growth, consumers complained about the disappointing and frustrating experience of online grocery shopping. Enter Halla.

Red Ant

Developed as an extension of its clienteling app during the pandemic, Red Ant’s shoppable virtual consultations solution was the first of its kind to launch to market.

Scantranx

Since the pandemic began, Scantranx has helped lots of SMB to quickly adopt online sales to weather the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sunspel/Sitoo

The cloud native Sitoo platform, with its retail PoS, makes omnichannel a given and turns unified commerce into reality.

Uberall/Okaïdi

ÏDKIDS Group and its children’s fashion brand Okaïdi saw the shifting retail environment caused by Covid-19 as an opportunity to accelerate digital transformation plans.

What’s next?

We will now ask our judging panel to cast their votes and provide their feedback. The winner will be revealed on 8th December at a roundtable discussion/networking event in central London.

Our thanks to the following retail leaders for offering their assistance and expertise this year.

Mike Cadden, IT Director (Sales, Marketing and Customer Services), Office Depot 

Hayley Meenan-Wilkin, E-Commerce Manager, Fishpools

Martin Newman, Founder, The Customer First Group 

Paula Bobbett, E-Commerce Director, Boots UK

Tiffany Lung, Retail Analyst 

Nadine Neatrour, Marketing Director, Selfridges 

Simon Curtis, Sales and Marketing Director, PMC Retail 

Christine Russo, Digital and Physical Retail Consultant

Gerald Dawson, Business Consultant and Finance Director, The iOutlet and HANX

Sharon Peters, Head Of Technology - Marks and Spencer, HR, Finance, Corporate Services and M&S Bank

Luke Phillips, Head of IT Delivery, Studio Retail

Matt Taylor, Technology Transformation Leader at EY, Retail and Consumer Products

Third time around

Now into their third year, the awards are sponsored by PMC, StoreSpace, Critizr, Marxent, QVALON and Selazar.

Stay tuned for more shortlists over the coming days!