Zimmerman said Pandora was a worthy recipient of the title despite tight competition from the many other submissions considered by an expert judging panel.
“Pandora is a well-established retailer and has used product innovation, concept stores and a watertight marketing strategy to expand its brand offering and stand out from competitors. The plethora of advancements across the board made Pandora the clear winner for this prestigious award,” Zimmerman said.
The award was presented to Pandora by Visa Australia country manager Vipin Kalra. He acknowledged the company as being “a true success story”.
Pandora’s position in the jewellery market is a little peculiar because it operates as a supplier to retailers as well as operating its own retail outlets, which the company calls Pandora Concept Stores.
Pandora Australia president David Allen said it was a great honour to accept the award. He said he believed the win was not so much a question of what Pandora did differently as a retailer but rather what the company chose to focus on, strengthening its relationship with its customers across all of its distribution channels, franchise stores, multi-branded stores and company-owned stores.
Allen said Pandora had learned the key to the success of its distribution model.
“It has to be a balanced approach, we have a lot of retail expertise that works within the organisation,” he said. “From day to day we are learning to balance this retail mindset with the needs of our partners. Thinking like a retailer in a wholesale environment can only be maximised if you understand that your customer is your priority, because without them you do not have access to your consumer.”
Allen said the experience gained through the company’s flagship stores was helping to direct the marketing and merchandising possibilities for the company’s other retail partners.
“There is no doubt that a lot of what we do through our own retail concept stores, owned by us and our franchise partners, would have been a large component of winning the award. But a lot of what we do now, and more of what we will do in the future, is able to be utilised by all of our customers, particularly in the key areas of sales, marketing and merchandising.”
Allen said one of the fundamentals for the business’ success was to be mindful of maintaining a good working relationship with its customers.
“There is a saying that echoes through the halls at Pandora on a day to day basis and that is: ‘If we do not have a relationship with our customer, we cannot have a relationship with our consumer’. I am inspired as I continually see this statement underpinning the decisions and actions of the team day after day.”
The success of the brand is well-known, having been established from a home garage in Sydney to achieving more than $300 million in retail sales in five years.
Pandora has more than 300 employees and is sold through 600-plus retailers across Australia and New Zealand, however, the Australian Retailer of the Year title was awarded for the company’s efforts in the its own retail stores.
New TVC - watch video
In related news, as part of its retailer marketing support Pandora has launched a new television commercial. The campaign will screen nationally with the commercial first airing in mid-November and scheduled to run until Christmas.