TORONTO, ON: Retail Council of Canada announced the winner of the inaugural RCC ReBoot Challenge at STORE 2015, Canada’s largest retail conference. Montreal-based WorkJam, whose CEO & Founder Steven Kramer presented at the conference on June 2, was awarded the title of ReBoot Challenge Winner, 2015 as voted by a live audience of approximately 2,000 retail industry leaders at STORE 2015.
The WorkJam Employee Relationship Platform empowers employers to streamline scheduling, communication, training and recruiting for their hourly workforce. It provides a simple approach to managing the constant flow of shift trades, swaps and cancellations that managers need to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
“We are thrilled to have been presented with this prestigious award from Retail Council of Canada,” says Steven Kramer, CEO of WorkJam. “We appreciate the strong support from so many retail industry leaders at STORE 2015 who voted for us. We look forward to helping these businesses lower recruitment costs, improve attrition rates, optimize labor in relation to demand signals, and improve the overall customer experience with happier, more engaged employees.”
As part of an overall effort to provide retail industry profile and help foster growth for Canadian start-up companies who serve the retail marketplace, Retail Council of Canada launched the RCC ReBoot Challenge this past winter. More than 40 start-up companies submitted their product descriptions, the problem that their product addresses and the solution it provides, which were judged by a group of retail industry experts. All finalists were Canadian companies less than three years-old and have been judged on their potential to transform the retail experience and/or make a positive impact on the retail industry. Each received a booth at STORE 2015, a non-retail RCC membership, and profile in Canadian Retailer magazine. The 10 finalists were (in alphabetical order):
- Askuity: CEO/Founder, Eric Green
- Digital Retail Apps: CEO/Founder, Wendy MacKinnon Keith
- Dream Payments: CEO/Founder, Brent Ho-Young
- Flybits Inc.: CEO/Founder, Hossein Rahnama
- Linkett: CEO/Founder, Douglas Lusted
- POPcodes: CEO/Founder, Gregg Aamoth
- Scenetag: CEO/Founder, Herman Campbell
- Tulip Retail: CEO/Founder, Ali Asaria
- Wirkn Inc.: CEO/Founder, Derek Szeto
- WorkJam: CEO/Founder, Steven Kramer
The top four companies with the highest score each had the opportunity to present their solution to a live audience for five minutes at STORE 2015. Delegates voted via the conference mobile app for the start-up they felt was most deserving of the winning title. The top four included (in alphabetical order):
- Flybits Inc.: CEO/Founder, Hossein Rahnama
- Scenetag: CEO/Founder, Herman Campbell
- Tulip Retail: CEO/Founder, Ali Asaria
- WorkJam: CEO/Founder, Steven Kramer
“It’s fantastic to meet so many passionate Canadian start-ups with fresh, really well thought out solutions for the retail industry,” says Michael LeBlanc, SVP, Marketing & Digital Retail, Retail Council of Canada. “Congratulations to WorkJam and Steven Kramer for winning the inaugural Retail Council of Canada ReBoot Challenge; the retail industry voted at STORE 2015 and selected WorkJam as a unique and up-and-coming platform for the retail industry.”
As a grand prize, WorkJam will have the opportunity to present to RCC’s Board of Directors at an upcoming Board meeting, where 15 of Canada’s retail leaders gather from across the country to provide guidance and direction to the retail industry.
For further information:
Colin Asuncion
Retail Council of Canada
casuncion@retailcouncil.org / 416.467.3782
