Leading online cycling retailer Wiggle has triumphed over UK high street giants to win the hotly contested ‘Product Innovation’ category at the annual Oracle Retail Week Awards.
Judges were so impressed by Verenti, Wiggle’s own-brand range of sportive bikes, that the Portsmouth-based retailer came first in the category, ahead of entries from major retailers such as Waitrose, Tesco, Boots, The Conran Group and Asda.
The idea behind Verenti was simple – with thousands of sportive rides taking place across the UK every year, and interest in long distance mass-participation cycling events continuing to rise, Wiggle reported a massive surge in MAMILS (middle aged men in lycra) searching its website for specialised bikes and kit.
Quickly capitalising on a gap in the market, Wiggle assembled its own in-house team of designers, researchers and testers to create a competitively priced range of fully customisable sportive bikes. The Verenti brand continues to be popular among this new breed of middle-aged men taking to two wheels.
Demonstrating how Wiggle’s profile and position in the traditional retail landscape is changing, the company picked up two further Retail Week Award nominations, with nods for ‘Growing Retailer of the Year’ and ‘Non-Store Retailer of the Year’ categories.
Martin Talbot, Director of Marketing at Wiggle, said, “To be recognised as retail innovators, and scooping this hotly-contested award over the likes of Waitrose, Tesco and Boots is a great honour for Wiggle, and demonstrates how we now have a place among the best retailers in the country.
“We had ambitious plans for Verenti, which have now been recognised and celebrated by our peers. The award and two nominations are a testament to our hardworking team.”
Tim Danaher, Editor of Retail Week, added “The quality of entries this year was extraordinary. Wiggle’s story is truly remarkable, reflecting the entrepreneurship that is the lifeblood of the retail industry. The ability to develop an own label as part of a growing online retailer highlights just what a forward thinking business Wiggle is.
"Spotting a gap in the market as sportive events continued to boom, Wiggle assembled a dedicated in-house team of designers, researchers and testers to develop the Verenti range specifically for these type of events.”
Founded in 1999, Wiggle is the UK’s leading online cycling retailer. Now delivering to over 70 countries worldwide, the ISIS Equity Group backed company has previously been named ‘Top Sports & Leisure Shop’ in a poll for respected consumer group, Which?
Wiggle also won the Cross Border e-Retail title at the e-Commerce Awards for Excellence last October as well as BikeBiz’s Online Retailer of the Year for the second year running. Last summer, Experian Hitwise UK named Wiggle as Britain’s most visited bike website for the first half of 2010, a title it has enjoyed every year since 2006.
Wiggle was also ranked fourth overall in the sport and fitness retail industry sector. And, for seven years running Wiggle has won Best Mail Order Company in 220 Triathlon Magazine’s awards.
