The popular e-Tailer who pioneered the ‘shoppable magazine’ experience in South Africa, had to diversify and expand its marketing efforts over this period as it has grown from a Ladies’ fashion store into a fully fledged online department store, including Mens’ and Ladies Fashion, babies and children, home décor and beauty.

With a panel made up of both local and overseas digital luminaries as judges, the IAB SA Bookmarks Awards uses international best practices as its judging criterion, ensuring that African winners are acknowledged as being globally competitive eCommerce players.

“After our first year of operation, we were delighted to win at the Bookmarks,” says Karen Dempers, Spree’s head of Customer Interaction, “In 2015, the awards have confirmed that we’ve established our reputation for offering an outstanding eCommerce site and valuable digital marketing communications that result in conversions.”

In a tough competition adjudicated by global standards that result in few top local awards, Spree.co.za achieved a Silver Pixel for the Spree.co.za newsletters and a Bronze Pixel for its eCommerce site. Spree’s email publications are major business drivers playing a vital role in delivering on its trademark ‘shoppable magazine’ offering, which is helping to move eCommerce in South Africa beyond simple transactional shopping into the fullness of a shopping journey that provides enjoyment and satisfaction along the way.

“We’ve focused on delivering high value, magazine-style content that is beautifully curated,” adds Dempers. “Customers can enjoy and be inspired by keeping up with trends, browsing the latest fashion highlights and getting style advice as part of their online shopping experience. With the email publications driving a significant share of traffic to our website and contributing to our sales, and customer loyalty, we know that Spree customers are getting the value we want them to experience. We’re very excited and proud to be recognised for this measurable digital performance by the 2015 Bookmarks Awards.”

For more information, visit www.spree.co.za. Alternatively, visit and like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter.