Calling all online retailers: it’s time to send us your nominations for the Best-in-Class Awards.

For the second year, eTail is helping the retail industry benchmark in four of the hottest areas impacting their business, and yes, the gates are officially open for you to send in nominations (and guess what – you never have to leave the blog to do it if you want to just comment with your nominees’ name!) Here are the four award categories:

Last year’s winners consisted of the following companies:

1. 2011 Email Marketing Winner: L’Occitane
2. 2011 Search Winner: The Gap, Inc.
3. 2011 Social Media Winner: Shoebuy.com
4. 2011 Mobile Commerce and Mobile Marketing Winner: The Wet Seal, Inc.

As we gather entries for the 2012 awards, we’d love to hear from you. It only takes five minutes to enter a submission for either your company or to recommend a colleague.

Are you currently innovating with your programs? What were the results? If so, you can easily submit your case study using the following criteria by emailing us directly (etail@wbresearch.com) with the following info:

1. Program Name
2. Goals/Objectives (Please list at least 2)
3. Program Execution (Please walk us through the execution in 5-10 sentences)
4. Program Results (Please walk us through the results in 5-10 sentences)
5. The name and contact information for the service provider who assisted with your program (if any)
6. At least 2 contact names and info within the company nominated

You can also enter a nomination using one of the eTail social networks: Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin, by just telling us your nominations’ name and the category, and then we’ll get in touch with you for the deets! Or submit right here – via The eTail Blog – by commenting with the company name you’re nominating and again, we’ll get in touch for the specifics.

Our Advisory Board of cross-industry judges come from companies such as: The Gap, Shoebuy.com, Wet Seal, Real Networks, CBS Interactive, Retail Online Integration, Williams Sonoma Inc. and Musician’s Friend. Each entry will be judged based on the following criteria: program goals, program execution, and results.

So what’s the reward? As a special grand prize, eTail will be holding its first ever Best-In-Class Awards Ceremony on February 28th to honor the winners. Selected winners will be featured as speakers at eTail 2012, presenting their amazing programs and results at the conference.

Best-In-Class award winners will also be featured in major industry publications, as well as have featured articles right here on the blog.

Additionally, the selected winner will receive three complimentary passes to attend eTail 2012 in Palm Springs for all four days, as well as three nights complimentary hotel stay at the JW Marriott Palm Springs.

**Please note: ALL NOMINATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED PRIOR TO JANUARY 1ST**

If you have any suggestions for us to consider other retailers who are innovating in any of these areas, please let us know! We’d love to reach out to them and present a nomination. Simply reply here with their contact details.

Have questions about the submission process? Email us here and we’ll provide an answer as soon as possible, or call 1.646.200.7448.

Good luck and keep those noms pouring in!