BigCommerce Announces 2017 Innovation Award Winners

Andie Swim, Beer Cartel, Bob Johnson’s Computer Stuff, Brand Labs and Seriously Silly Socks recognized for innovative use of ecommerce platform

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AUSTIN, Texas – November 13, 2017 – BigCommerce, the leading ecommerce platform for fast-growing and established brands, today announced the winners of the 2017 BigCommerce Innovation Awards, an international contest recognizing excellence in ecommerce innovation. Winning brands – Andie Swim, Beer Cartel, Bob Johnson’s Computer Stuff and Seriously Silly Socks – stood out among hundreds of submissions for visionary developments that drive growth opportunities, solve business challenges, and deliver outstanding customer experiences above and beyond traditional online retail. Digital ecommerce agency Brand Labs was also recognized as BigCommerce Agency Innovator of the Year.

“This year’s award winners demonstrate that innovation extends far beyond a single site factor,” said Jimmy Duvall, chief product officer at BigCommerce. “Each brand interpreted what innovation meant for their specific audience, and tailored their marketing, product and customer experiences to address those specific needs. The result is a group of websites that elicit brand loyalty, encourage site conversion and drive repeat purchase.”

The BigCommerce Innovation Award winners were selected by a panel of technology, marketing and retail industry leaders and included Jimmy Duvall, chief product officer at BigCommerce; Jill Rose, North American senior director of mid-market at PayPal; Michael Leff, vice president of technology at StoreYourBoard, the 2016 Innovation Award winner; Noah Kagan, chief sumo at Sumo Group; Bryan Eisenberg, keynote speaker and bestselling author; Sujan Patel, co-founder of Web Profits; Shane Barker, founder of ContentSolutions.io; Drew Sanocki, founding partner at Empire Growth Group; and Ryan Deiss CEO of DigitalMarketer.

Finalists were evaluated on four criteria – project scope, technological achievement, business impact and creative implementation of the BigCommerce platform – with winners recognized in the following categories:

• Grand Prize: Seriously Silly Socks. Known for its specially-designed sock gift boxes, Seriously Silly Socks needed an automated way for customers to select eligible socks to include in their custom gift boxes. The UK-based company worked with Cart Designers to develop a Build a Gift Box tool that not only simplified the sock selection process for the customer but also streamlined the fulfillment process on the back-end, saving time and improving service accuracy.

• Customer Experience: Bob Johnson’s Computer Stuff. Through the use of live chat, real-time pricing updates and selection assistance, this seller of refurbished, rugged laptops turned a complex buying process into a guided experience. Judges loved Bob Johnson’s ability to “think like the customer” and enable tools that addressed specific pain points in the search experience.   

• Product Innovation: Andie Swim. Direct-to-consumer swimsuit retailer Andie Swim aimed to repair the broken process of swimwear shopping by offering a try-before-you-buy shopping experience. By offering a curated selection of one-piece swimsuits, a build-your-own box functionality and the ability to try at-home, Andie Swim created a product experience that extends far beyond the product itself.  

• Marketing Innovation: Beer Cartel. An online craft beer retailer in Sydney, Australia, Beer Cartel used a combination of coupons and custom-built content to increase brand awareness with both consumers and industry professionals and, as a result, found a way to turn engagement into revenue. The brand’s creative approach to industry thought leadership brought a 100% increase in site traffic and 34% increase in online revenue year-over-year.

• Agency Innovator: Brand Labs. BigCommerce Design & Solutions Partner Brand Labs won the inaugural Agency Innovator Award for their work on Autograph Foliage, a leading manufacturer of artificial foliage. Brand Labs managed Autograph Foliage’s migration to BigCommerce and helped implement a discount tool that allowed customized offers to tiered customer groups, which drove a 40% increase in revenue and transactions.

“As an online-only sock retailer, our success is predicated on our ability to create an engaging on-site experience that both compels our customer to buy and differentiates our brand in a crowded marketplace,”  said Andrew Gill, owner of Seriously Silly Socks. “None of this would have been possible if not for the robust toolkit that BigCommerce provides, so we’re honored to be recognized for using the platform to bring our brand vision to life in a way that is efficient for both buyer and seller.”

The BigCommerce Innovation Awards recognize brands selling online through BigCommerce’s platform that identify unique ways to solve product, marketing and customer experience challenges. All statistics pertaining to winning websites were self-reported by entrants. To learn more about the awards, visit: www.bigcommerce.com/awards/innovation.