DALLAS, 2016-Sep-30 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shop.org today (September 28, 2016) announced from the keynote stage of Retail’s Digital Summit the group’s Digital Commerce Startup of the Year competition winner. After being named a finalist in July, RangeMe was chosen by a group of retail industry leaders as the winner of the annual competition. RangeMe is an online marketplace that streamlines new product discovery between suppliers and retailers. The three-day industry event is currently taking place at the Dallas Convention Center and will conclude Wednesday evening.
RangeMe will receive a $20,000 prize, a free one-year membership with the National Retail Federation, complimentary registration for Retail’s BIG Show 2017 in New York City and for Shop.org’s 2017 Digital Summit in Los Angeles. The winning startup will also have a chance to pitch 50 top digital retail and technology executives at a 2017 meeting of NRF’s Digital Council and will be introduced to the competitions judges and Shop.org Board of Directors.
“Each year, this program aims to find promising rising stars who have what it takes to make a significant impact on the digital retail industry. It’s companies like imageSurge, Netra and RangeMe who push the limits to make change in our industry,” said Artemis Berry, Vice President, Digital Retail for Shop.org and NRF. “We are incredibly excited to see what is in store for RangeMe, and believe that they have the potential to bring retailing to the next level.”
“I’m so happy to be named the winner today and I look forward to building the RangeMe marketplace and continuing to provide retailers with the right tools to be successful,” said RangeMe CEO and Founder Nicky Jackson. “The successful group of finalists and winners for this award today and in the past is a great testament to Shop.org recognizing the fact that startups are the future, and where new ideas are breeding.”
In August 2016, a team of NRF members named three finalists for the award. Next year’s competition is set to launch in the Spring of 2017 and the winner will be named at the 2017 Shop.org Digital Summit in Los Angeles.
The two additional finalists were:
Richard Lee, chief executive officer, Netra, Inc.
Oleg Vyadro, ceo, imageSurge
Judges for the competition were:
Pano Athos, founder and managing director, XRC Labs
David Brussin, founder and executive chairman, Monetate, Inc.
Bryon Colby, senior vice president, digital commerce, Cornerstone Brands, Inc.
Angela Kapp, president, Kappcorp
Ken Seiff, managing director, Beanstalk Ventures
Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, is the world’s leading community for digital retail, offering thought leadership through original research and gold standard events.
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s This is Retail campaign highlights the industry’s opportunities for life-long careers, how retailers strengthen communities, and the critical role that retail plays in driving innovation. nrf.com
Contact:
Treacy Reynolds
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press
Source: NRF