Comment: from Andy Street to Jim McCarthy – my 2012 retail honours list

In a volatile economic climate it’s more difficult for retailers to shine. Following Jessops’ collapse, I wanted to hail successful organisations and the individuals who lead them.

Here are my top five retail honours of 2012, looking at how these individuals are ensuring their brands continue to stand out from their rivals.

Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis, will be celebrating after a successful 2012 festive season. Despite the current economic climate, John Lewis’ total sales soared by 14.8% in December, further proving the strength of the brand.

What’s more, with John Lewis’ impressive online sales now accounting for a quarter of the retailer’s business, plans are currently in motion to expand its ecommerce offering into Germany and France with products available to buy in euros later in 2013.

Nick Robertson, chief executive of Asos, has experienced great success with the online retailer. Asos  began trading in 2000 and now attracts 18.5 million unique users every day.

The fashion website has gone from strength to strength as it continues to provide users with innovative technology while driving fashion trends. This ultimately results in high customer satisfaction and a boost in sales and profits. With more and more retailers benefiting from the growth of online shopping, Robertson has been leading the way for a long time by demonstrating the potential for ecommerce growth.

Amancio Ortega, Spain’s richest man and the owner of Inditex, Zara’s parent company, has achieved global expansion this year with more than 6,000 stores across an impressive 86 countries.

This is even more remarkable given the fact that Ortega has never given an interview and, unlike most other retailers, never paid to advertise Zara. Furthermore, Zara’s online presence continues to grow with plans to begin online trading in Canada, having already started doing so in China in 2012.

This, coupled with Zara flying the flag for its home-made brand by making all of its clothes in Spain, and leading the way for the likes of John Lewis, Debenhams and River Island - which are following suit with their Made in UK, Made by Great Britons and Made in Britain initiatives - means that he deserves his place on the honours list.

Tony Baines, managing director of Aldi, has seen the supermarket enjoy a fantastic year, winning a multitude of awards, including Which?’s ‘Supermarket of the Year’.

Aldi had strong Christmas sales, up 30% in the 12-weeks to December 25^th. Its success was rooted in its ability to offer consumers its trademark rock-bottom prices on products such as fine wines, venison and goose that would usually be sought after in more upmarket supermarkets.

This winning formula is even more impressive considering the rising prices of food. Looking further ahead in 2013, this supermarket is likely to increasingly be the go-to for consumers wishing to keep their shopping bills down.

Jim McCarthy, chief executive of Poundland, Europe’s biggest single-price discount retailer, opened the retailer’s 400^th store last year. Throughout 2012 the retailer continued to have strong sales as a result of consumers trying to make their restricted budgets stretch further.

Poundland capitalised on Christmas by launching its own ‘Make Your Own Christmas’ range, which saw over 113,000 different types of product sold in the run-up to Christmas and reported sales to be 6% above expectations. 2013 looks likely to be another good year for the retailer, with plans to launch its ecommerce website in an effort to adapt to a changing shopping culture.

While this honours list is by no means exhaustive, there does seem to be a common theme.

Success comes down to the retailer’s ability to provide a variety of products, develop growth through ecommerce and keep up with changing trends and technology that provide consumers with what they are really looking for.

The coming year is set to be interesting for retailers and, if others take a leaf out of these leaders’ books, it will be a profitable one too.

Dan Coen, director, Zolfo Cooper