Sonae achieves “European Excellence Award 2016” with “Retail Book of Innovation 2015”

Pioneer report in the international business sector wins "external publication” category

Sonae is one of the companies in the world that has invested the most in innovation, research and development, with an average annual growth of 14.5% since 2005.

Sonae was distinguished at the award ceremony of the "European Excellence Awards 2016” in the category of "External Publication” with the "Retail Book of Innovation 2015” project, a report dedicated to innovation that is pioneer in the business sector worldwide.

Nuno Lopes Gama, Head of Innovation and Future Tech at Sonae, states, "Sonae is constantly looking to do more and better when it comes to innovation. This award is a result of this dedication applied also to the external communication of our innovation activities, but it is, first and foremost, the recognition of the effort of everyone who, direct and indirectly, contributed to innovation at Sonae, evident in the Retail Book of Innovation.”

The European Excellence Awards are an initiative created to honour the best communication and public relations projects across the world. Applications are analysed by a jury of 40 experts from all over the world, who evaluate the projects’ innovation, implementation, strategy and impact, electing the finalists and winner of each category.

As a result of the jury’s analysis, the seventh edition of Sonae’s "Retail Book of Innovation” was the great winner of the European Excellence Awards in the "External Publication” category. The document revolves around the concept of colour explosion, seeking to celebrate curiosity, creativity, enthusiasm, initiative, resilience and customer-orientation among our people and the partners who participated in the development of the projects portrayed. The explosions symbolize ideas being spread, surprising and captivating everyone around them, good ideas with an impact that is able to take down what was before and build up something better. The "Retail Book of Innovation 2015” is, thus, a celebration of good ideas, of teamwork and projects which, in different ways, have risen to substitute what existed before in order to produce substantial improvements or to create something completely new.

Retail innovation in Sonae

In 2015, Sonae carried on its strategic investment in innovation, generating and implementing hundreds of innovations which contributed to sustain leadership positions for its retail businesses in Portugal and to strengthen their global presence.

According to the data presented in the "Retail Book of Innovation 2015”, Sonae’s investment in research, innovation and development rose from 22 million euros in 2005 to 96 million euros in 2014, translating an average annual growth of 14.5%.

This evolution surfaces as the teams dedicated to innovation tasks were duly strengthened, with the direct involvement of about 4,400 employees over this past year. Innovation processes also benefitted from the collaboration of employees from Sonae’s retail areas, helping to generate ideas and implement innovations.

Nuno Lopes Gama, says, "Innovation is strategic for Sonae, for which every year we insist on a strong financial and human investment so as to guarantee we remain on the path towards becoming even stronger and faster in fulfilling or customers’ needs and preferences, while also aiming higher in our performance. This investment allows us to generate hundreds of innovations every year, which contribute to our leadership positions and to establish Sonae as a benchmark multinational company, with interests in over 80 countries. The Retail Book of Innovation is a central piece of our investment, as it not only reports the balance between the activity developed and the results obtained, but also recognizes and celebrates the collective determination of our people and partners in producing Innovation that has a positive impact in the performance of our businesses and in our customers’ shopping experience and quality of life as well.”

The "Retail Book of Innovation 2015” presents a selection of 75 innovations developed and implemented by Sonae’s retail brands, where one can find the Deeply Zipperless Suit, that already represents 70% of its range sales; the Shopview, that allows to automatically monitor shelves in Continente, reducing time spent on the task by 90%; and the Sales Assistant, which allows Worten employees to begin, carry out and conclude the selling process via tablet or web page, reducing time spent in the process by 63%.

Examples of innovation also include Zippy’s new children’s fashion store concept that improves the shopping experience for both parents and kids, with over 80% satisfied customers; the new Ice Transporting System in the fish centre; Worten’s new pricing system; the store model for Continente Bom Dia, that is more efficient in terms of costs and operation; Continente’s new packaging for cured hams; or the new range of backpacks by Note! with built-in LEDs, speakers and GPS.

Open innovation involves over 150 partners from 25 countries

Sonae invests in an open innovation strategy, working in a growing collaborative ecosystem that acts as a propeller of innovation. This network includes universities, R&D centres, technology transfer units, startups, incubators and accelerators, as well as business partners and companies from the most varied sectors of business, including other retailers.

At the time of the period to which the book pertains, Sonae’s retail businesses were working towards innovation with more than 150 partners around the world, involving institutions from 25 countries, in four continents. Thus, this is how Sonae intends to foster the sharing of knowledge and the development of initiatives through collaborative networks.

The "Retail Book of Innovation 2015” is available at: http://www.sonae.pt/fotos/publicacoes/livroinovacao2015_125911493578e4bf88f047.pdf.