Why we feature stores for free

The Ecom Awards has two parts. There is the Showcase, a free, worldwide library of online stores worth learning from. And there is the awards programme, which is judged, has entry fees and runs once a year. Edition 01 is 2027.

People sometimes assume the two are linked, and that being featured is a step towards winning. It isn’t. This piece explains how the Showcase works, what it costs (nothing) and where the line sits between being featured and being judged.

What the Showcase is for

Most ecommerce inspiration comes in one of two forms. A screenshot on social media with no context, or a case study written by the agency that built the store. We wanted something in between: one page per store that says what it sells, who built it and what is worth looking at.

Every Showcase page has the same parts:

• A screenshot we take ourselves.
• A short note on why the store is good.
• The features that stood out to our editors.
• Credits for the studio, agency or freelancers behind it.

Credits matter. Good stores are rarely built by one person, and the people who build them deserve to be findable. Every agency credited in the Showcase gets its own page listing its work.

The Showcase is worldwide. The first stores include a Glasgow running shop, a Brussels leather house, a Milanese watch brand and a raw pet food company in Greece.

Two ways in

There are two routes into the Showcase.

1. Our editors choose stores. We look for work that does something well and can teach other people something.
2. Members submit their own work. Submitting has a small review fee, and an editor reviews every submission within five working days. The fee pays for the review, not a place.

Either way, an editor checks every page before it goes live.

Claiming a page

If your store or agency is in the Showcase, you can claim its page. Claiming is free. It lets you correct details, add results and team members, or ask us to remove the page.

We confirm you work there with an email to the business’s own domain. If a page has already been claimed and you think that’s wrong, email hello@theecomawards.com and we’ll look into it.

Featured is not a win

Stores our editors pick carry a Featured stamp. We designed it to look different from an award, on purpose.

Featured means an editor thinks the store is worth your time. It doesn’t mean it was judged, scored or ranked.

The awards work differently. Entries are paid. Each one is read by at least two judges and scored against a rubric we publish before entries open. Only entries can be shortlisted, and only entries can win. We never describe an editor’s pick as a winner, and we’d ask featured stores not to either.

If you want the detail on judging, read How The Ecom Awards will be judged.

Results: reported or verified

Some Showcase pages list results, such as a change in conversion rate after a redesign. Those numbers come from the brand or the agency, and we show them as “reported by entrant”. The only way a result gets a verified mark is if judges have checked the evidence as part of an awards entry.

The badge

Featured stores can add a small badge to their own site. It’s a receipt stub that reads Featured, In the Showcase, and links back to the store’s page. It comes in light and dark versions. Winners get a different badge, so nobody can confuse the two.

Why free

Charging to be featured would change what gets featured. We’d rather the Showcase be a list of good stores than a list of stores that paid. It also makes the library more useful for everyone browsing it, whether you run a store, work at an agency or are about to brief one.

The awards charge entry fees because judging, written feedback and trophies cost money to do properly. The Showcase doesn’t need to, so it stays free.

One rule on connections

Businesses connected to the organisers can be featured in the Showcase but can’t win an award. That keeps the awards clean without hiding good work from the library.

Get your store in

If you’ve built or run a store you think belongs here, send the address to hello@theecomawards.com. Or browse the Showcase and the collections first to see the kind of work we feature.