ARA X NRA Retail Awards 2025
Save the date: Thursday 18 September 2025
Location: Ritz Carlton, Melbourne
Celebrate the excellence and innovation of Australian retail at the ARA X NRA Retail Awards 2025, proudly presented by the Australian Retailers Association and National Retail Association in collaboration with American Express.
Join us in recognising the outstanding achievements of Australia’s top-performing retailers.
Nominations are now open! Nominate yourself, your business, or a deserving candidate making an impact in the retail sector.
Share the opportunity within your network and help us shine a spotlight on retail excellence and innovation.
Let’s celebrate the people and businesses shaping the future of Australian retail.
Nominations are open!
Submit your entry now
Nominations open
May 2025
Nominations close
June 2025
Finalists announced
August 2025
Tickets on sale
August 2025
Award Categories
Retail Excellence Awards
People & Culture Excellence
DE&I Excellence
Sustainability Excellence
Store Design Excellence
Customer Experience Excellence
Marketing Campaign Excellence
Retailer of the Year Awards
Online Retailer of the Year
Shop Small Retailer of the Year – brought to you by American Express
Franchisee Retailer of the Year
Franchise Retailer of the Year
Medium Retailer of the Year
Major Retailer of the Year
Retail Leader Awards
Retail Team of the Year
Store Manager of the Year
Emerging Talent of the Year
Retail Leader of the Year
Highlights from ARA Retail Award 2024
ARA Retail Awards | FAQs
You must have a registered retail business, or work for such company, with a physical or online store currently operating within the Australian market.
The ARA Retail Awards showcase the excellence and innovation of Australian retailers. This event is proudly presented by the Australian Retailers Association and National Retail Association, in collaboration with American Express.
The ARA X NRA Retail Awards honours the dedication and ingenuity of the Australian retail sector. It’s a platform to spotlight outstanding retailers, emerging leaders and pioneers in various speciality areas within our industry.
The event will showcase the achievements of Australia’s highest performing retailers across categories in retail excellence, retailer of the year and retail leadership.
The ARA X NRA Retail Awards is open to all retailers in Australia, regardless of ARA or NRA membership status.
The ARA X NRA Retail Awards is being held on Thursday 18 September 2025 in Melbourne. Save the date! Tickets will become available shortly.
To receive an award, a representative from your organisation must be present at the ARA X NRA Retail Awards event on Thursday, September 18 2025 in Melbourne. Similarly, if you are nominating for an individual award, the individual nominee or nominated representative must also attend the event to be eligible to receive the award.
There is no cost to nominate for the ARA X NRA Retail Awards.
No, you are welcome to enter as many categories as you like, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria. However, you can only submit one entry per category for the business award categories.
Nominations close on Monday 16 June 2025 at 5pm.
Entries will close at 5pm on Monday 16 June 2025. Please ensure you have submitted by this time.
We welcome franchisee entrants to the ARA X NRA Retail Awards. If you are a franchisee, you must seek all required approvals required by your franchising agreement before participating. If you are a multi-channel business you can only submit one entry per category, rather than a separate entry for the online component of your business.
Endorsements are not mandatory, however an endorsement from a senior colleague or manager can be very beneficial for the Retail Leadership Award categories. In some individual categories, a manager testimonial is important, please check the individual award criteria for details.
We will announce our esteemed judges shortly.
Supporting documents or evidence is not mandatory to include. However, all categories have the option for you to provide materials or supporting documents.
You may wish to attach supporting material which enhances your submission or provides demonstrated evidence of your claims and/or the success of your initiatives.
In some individual categories, a manager testimonial is important, please check the individual award criteria for details.
For any further questions regarding the ARA X NRA Retail Awards, please reach out to the ARA team at events@retail.org.au
Judging Panel
Steve Pinder (Chair)
Managing Director, Accenture
Biography
Mr. Pinder is a Managing Director leading ANZ Retail Strategy.
Steve has spent 20 years defining and supporting retail executive teams through transformational change. He focuses on growth strategy, changing operating model, and consumer strategies spanning merchandising & inventory, digital/omni-transformation, and E2E supply chain. He works with domestic and global clients from hardgoods, apparel, and food segments.
Steve has personal passion for clients’ outcomes, coaching and development, and spending time outdoors with his wife and kids exploring Australia.
Lisa Belcher
Vice President Merchant Partnerships Australia & New Zealand
Global Merchant Services, American Express
Biography
Lisa Belcher is a seasoned sales and marketing executive who is passionate about delivering incremental value to businesses by utilizing the unique assets American Express has developed. She is responsible for the strategy and partnership approach for clients that accept Amex. Her vision is that customer-centric retailers leverage Amex to deliver a superior customer experience.
Lisa is also a proud champion of small business and Shop Small particularly in how she can leverage the assets of big business to support local businesses. Lisa brings almost 20 years of experience in both the US and Australia and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. She is also on the Board of Directors for Crohn’s & Colitis Australia.
Sally Coates
Founder, The Retail Mentors
CEO, Vimwood Australia
Biography
After a long and fruitless shopping expedition with her mother, Sally’s retail career was determined when she was 12. A decision to have an influence on retail, based purely on a disappointing retail experience, sparked a career that has spanned over three decades. Having held CEO roles, and led large merchandise teams for top performing ASX listed companies and specialty stores Sally has used her experience and skills to infuse the balance of strategy and creativity to drive business growth and customer advocacy.
Sally founded The Retail Mentors in 2020 which has become an international retail network that brings together the leading minds of the retail industry and is dedicated to creating, shaping and influencing business owners, leaders and retail superstars of the future in retail. This is done through the voluntary mentoring program, retail masterminds and advisory support.
Today, Sally is as driven by the same mission she had when she was 12. To have a positive influence on retail.
Alison Covington
Founder
& Managing Director, Good360 Australia
Biography
Alison brought the ‘Good360’ charity to Australia which offers businesses a sustainable and community focused option to redirect their surplus product to help people and our planet.
Their mission is to ensure the excess goods and services that businesses produce every year flow to people in need rather than going to waste. Good360 is Australia’s largest online marketplace connecting businesses’ unsold brand-new goods to Australians in need.
Steve Cox
CEO, Destination NSW
Biography
Steve Cox is the CEO of Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency. Steve is a passionate and energetic champion for Sydney and regional NSW. He drives the strategic direction of Destination NSW to ensure NSW is the premier visitor economy of the Asia Pacific by 2030.
Steve is also a Director on the Boards of Business Events Sydney (BESydney) and the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, and a member of the Australia Day Council of NSW.
Tom Ferrier
Founder, Greener
Biography
Tom is a former corporate exec who hung up the suit and tie to create Greener.
Recognised as #1 cleantech in Australia, they are creating a world where getting greener is the better, easier option to help end climate change.
Olivia Hitchens
Principal and CEO, Artemide Law
Biography
Olivia advises many of Australia’s largest private businesses, property owners, high net worth families and private funds and is an expert in Commercial/Business Law and Property.
Known for her ability to solve complex legal problems and strategise, Olivia is a trusted advisor who blends legal skill with business acumen and relentless drive.
As exclusive legal advisor to the Australian Retailers Association and its 8000+ members, Olivia is widely regarded as a Retail, Franchising and Hospitality Law expert and has worked on some of the largest consumer M&A transactions in recent times.
Launa Inman
Non-Executive Director, Professional Coach
Biography
Launa is a professional Non-Executive Director having sat on the Boards of several ASX listed companies including CBA and Super Retail Group. She has significant governance experience on both Remuneration and Audit committees.
Launa is a member of the Australia Post Board. She is also on the Advisory Board of Fantastic Furniture, a large national retailer.
Launa is the Chair of the Melbourne Fashion Festival, which is the largest fashion festival engaging the public in the world. This festival promotes Melbourne as the fashion capital of Australia. She also sits on the Board of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, which protects children against cyber bullying and family violence.
Launa is a former CEO/Managing Director of three iconic Australian companies, Target Australia, which she ran for 7 years, Billabong International and Officeworks.
Maria Palazzolo
Executive Director & CEO, GS1 Australia
Biography
Ms Palazzolo is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of GS1 Australia, a neutral, multi industry global organisation providing global standards and services for efficient supply chains and eCommerce.
Maria has been the organisations CEO for over 20 years and during that time has been instrumental in bringing together industry, government, regulators and associations to collaborate on eCommerce strategies.
Craig Woolford
Senior Research Analyst, MST Marquee
Biography
Craig Woolford is the lead consumer sector analyst at MST Marquee and has been covering all aspects of the retail sector in Australia for more than 23 years. He was previously the Head of Research and also the lead consumer analyst at Citigroup for 16 years and before that CommSec.
Craig’s clients include major superannuation funds that invest in the retail sector and companies across the retail value chain looking to understand the factors that will impact retail sales and profitability. Craig and his team also have a website, retailmosaic.com.au where subscribers can access his insights on the sector and key retailers.
Craig is highly ranked by his investor clients and regularly cited in industry journals and the media for his insights about the state of Australian retailing and performance of the major companies across the retail and food and beverages sectors.
Special thanks to our event partner
Interested in sponsoring an award?
For all sponsorship enquiries and to receive a sponsorship prospectus, please contact partnerships@retail.org.au
