For decades, retailers’ main emphasis has been keeping costs low in a race to the bottom. That race is over, and the low-cost leaders have won. However, there’s a shift happening in retail right now — and many are recognizing that the most successful retailers will differentiate themselves not by prices, but by how well they provide consumers with helpful expertise about what to buy.

This helpful expertise is the solution to the retail industry’s problem, and consumers are rewarding retailers who provide it.

When Expertvoice engaged ReRez Research to learn what consumers want from retail sales associates and how well their expectations are being met (see study results), the following seven attributes came out on top, and Expertvoice based the criteria for the Helpful Expertise in Retail Awards on the same principles:

• Motivated and eager to assist me
• Helped me select the correct product
• Provided specialized product knowledge
• Provided specialized category knowledge
• Formed a relationship that will influence me to return and ask for them in the future
• Helped me find alternatives when what I wanted was not available
• Made me confident in my purchase decision

After scoring top retailers across five categories, the winners are:

• Outdoor recreation: REI, Cabela’s, EMS
• Sporting goods: Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Hibbett Sports
• Hunting or fishing: Bass Pro, Cabela’s, Gander Mountain
• Health and nutrition: Natural Grocers, Vitamin Shoppe, Trader Joe’s
• Prestige beauty: Sephora, Dillard’s, Nordstrom

The highest aggregate scorers were Sephora, Cabela’s, REI, and Bass Pro.

Winning retailers proved that they provide excellent buying experiences and have sales associates that are passionate and educated about the products they sell. These sales associates used their knowledge and passion to help consumers buy with confidence, and the consumers knew that the information they received in-store helped them make the right choice.

Click here to read the full survey results and more about the retail winners.