Retailer of the Year
Arlo & Jacob – The Pixel
Arlo & Jacob is a fast-growing British brand that specialises in made-to-order, handcrafted sofas, offering customers the opportunity to personalise every element—from size and fill to leg style and an extensive array of fabrics. Designed to offer “sofas for life,” Arlo & Jacob embodies sustainability, craftsmanship, and British design.
The redesigned eCommerce website reflects the brand’s luxury ethos, combining stunning product visuals and detailed sample imagery, interactive customisation tools, and a seamless user journey that mirrors the in-store experience.
Cartridge People
Cartridge People is a mid-sized retailer that has redefined what it means to offer value, trust, and convenience in a highly competitive market. Since 2001, they’ve grown from a small startup to a thriving eCommerce brand with over 140 employees, serving millions of customers and driving consistent, year-on-year growth.
Their success is driven by innovation rooted in customer needs. From competitively benchmarked pricing and trusted own-brand products to a full rebrand in 2024 centred on “Taking the hassle out of printing,” Cartridge People have built a seamless experience that earns both loyalty and results. With a redesigned website, intelligent product recommendations, and thoughtful post-purchase touches such as free promotional gifts, every interaction is enhanced.
Customer feedback consistently praises their ease of use, value, and fast delivery. With a 4.8/5 rating from over 100,000 reviews and industry-leading email engagement, their service is not only loved – it performs.
Cartridge People are more than just a retailer; they’re a partner that simplifies everyday printing for homes and businesses alike. Agile, customer-first, and digitally focused, Cartridge People exemplify the strength and potential of a modern mid-sized eCommerce business.
Harts of Stur
Harts of Stur is a fourth-generation, family-owned business based in North Dorset, offering over 30,000 products across kitchenware, fashion, home, and garden. A pioneer in ecommerce, we launched one of the UK’s first transactional websites in 1995. Today, our site stands out for its fast performance, mobile optimisation, and user-friendly design, offering a seamless shopping experience whether customers are browsing or buying.
We continuously improve the site based on user feedback and testing, adding features like personalised product recommendations, intelligent search, and interactive product finders. Seasonal tools like our Christmas gift guide make shopping easier and more enjoyable. Email automations re-engage visitors and help convert interest into sales.
Our streamlined checkout offers multiple payment and delivery options, while our partnerships with premium brands such as KitchenAid and Dualit boost visibility and engagement through joint campaigns and competitions.
Outstanding customer service is central to what we do. Our in-house team handles queries and orders, with same-day dispatch for orders placed before noon. Products are packed with care in eco-friendly materials, and delivered reliably via DPD.
With 25,000+ glowing Trustpilot reviews and a 4.9/5 rating, Harts of Stur combines family values with digital innovation to deliver an exceptional online retail experience.
Pampeano
pampeano is a premium leather accessories brand that embodies a slow living philosophy through its handcrafted artisanal products and timeless designs. Inspired by the tranquil landscapes of the Argentine La Pampa, pampeano is defined by nature, freedom, and an appreciation for a simpler, slower lifestyle. Our online platform offers an immersive and premium shopping experience that fuses tradition, artisanal craftsmanship, and digital innovation. pampeano’s website stands out with its engaging design, fast mobile-optimised navigation, and smooth checkout process. Notably, we offer a unique “Design Your Own” option that enables customers to customise belts and dog accessories by selecting their preferred leather, thread colours, and buckle types, along with custom embossing for truly personalised products. Customer service excellence is evident through outstanding satisfaction ratings, including 95% positive feedback from our 2025 customer survey, and a 4.85-star rating on reviews.io out of 5 stars with 1,595 reviews through same-day shipping, eco-friendly and gift-ready packaging, flexible exchanges, complimentary repairs, and a company philosophy of putting the customer’s needs first.
Target Darts UK
In 2024, Target Darts faced a defining moment. Following the meteoric rise of 16-year-old darts sensation Luke Littler—one of their key ambassadors— in December 2023, the brand experienced a sudden surge in demand. But their ecommerce platform, built on Adobe Commerce Cloud, wasn’t equipped to handle the pace or pressure. The site was sluggish, outdated, and lacking the technical flexibility needed to capitalise on this moment of opportunity.
That’s where Brave Bison stepped in. As Target Darts’ ecommerce partner, we embarked on a two-phase transformation. First, we stabilised the UK website—optimising the existing theme, cleaning up technical debt, and introducing key upgrades like GDPR-compliant Cookiebot and improved customer service workflows. This secured short-term performance, enabling the business to meet immediate customer and campaign needs.
Next, we turned our focus to long-term growth: rolling out a brand-new, performance-optimised theme across Target Darts’ German and US sites (with Japan in development), integrating Klaviyo for modern marketing automation, Live Search to improve product discovery, and Noibu to ensure real-time performance monitoring.
Our work not only modernised Target Darts’ ecommerce capabilities but set the foundation for global expansion—transforming a well-loved specialist into a digitally fit, internationally scalable brand contender.
The Folio Society
The Folio Society has evolved from a heritage publisher into a thriving e-commerce business, generating £15.9M in revenue, 112,000 orders and a 152% rise in profit in 2024. As an employee-owned company with no physical retail footprint, the website is both shopfront and storytelling space – where every detail, from UX to imagery, is designed to enrich the experience of discovering and owning a Folio book.
The success is built on listening – to the customers and to the team – and shaping each edition with care. Every book is developed in-house, with carefully chosen illustrators, quality materials, and insights drawn directly from Folio’s engaged community. When readers asked for Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, they responded – and it became the fastest-selling standard edition to date. Limited Editions continue to break records, with The Hobbit selling out in just 11 minutes.
These aren’t just books; they’re experiences that last. With shared profits, inclusive leadership and a global following, Folio is showing what’s possible when a company leads with purpose. They’ve found a way to honour their legacy while building a sustainable, modern business – one remarkable book, and one delighted customer, at a time.
Virgin Media O2
At the heart of everything our team does is the commitment to providing an exceptional online experience that not only delivers the wow factor but also makes life easier for our customers whether new, returning or growing the range of products and services they take from us.
Based on our data and insights, in 2024 we launched an in-life store for our Virgin Media customers which transformed customer retention, digital containment, online share and wholly digital task completion. Oh, and we saved over £2m of call centre costs by doing the right thing for customers too!
In O2, we’ve ramped up our testing capability through our top-rated self-service app and web experience (MyO2). It’s a critical bit of our capability, with over half of our customer recontracts starting there and millions of customers using the tool each month. We are pioneering the use of Contextual Multi-armed bandit methodology to deliver over 2m personalised sessions so far this year.
We could write a book about all our team do, but hope this short summary gives you a flavour of the passion and relentless focus we have on making best in class digital experiences for our customers every day.
