Your nominations for the Best Shops in Ireland awards are coming in thick and fast, and over the coming weeks secret shoppers and the judges will getting out and about to see for themselves the reasons why you believe they should be nominated.

The judging panel will be paying particular attention to what you write and why, and we will be returning to these comments when the time comes to shortlist the top 100 shops. Your voice counts.

Fashion and retail consultant Eddie Shanahan is really looking forward to getting out and seeing places that have responded to local needs and opportunities, recalling the heated arguments the panel had last summer as to whether the granite front steps of the Garden at Powerscourt Townhouse actually constituted a shop window. It is such innovative approaches that separate the professional retailer from the fad-focused, he says. "I will be visiting shops and cafes looking to see if the retailer is really focused on the customer."

Shanahan says he will also be listening in on staff conversations “to see if their minds are on last night’s exploits or rather what they should be on, in the case of a cafe, the delivery of my cup of coffee.”

Simon Pratt, MD of Avoca, believes independent shop owners have to keep reinventing themselves to stay relevant. "They need to show why the customer should spend his or her hard-earned money in their store or cafe." This year he wants to see retailers that have created a sense of theatre in their stores.

John Redmond, creative director at Brown Thomas, is new to the judging panel. A seasoned shopper, he is looking forward to seeing the "energy small, independent shops put into their business as well as which shops readers nominate and why".

For AIB Merchant Services' Robert Doherty, who is head of Clover, sponsors of the awards, customer service is everything. "It's a feeling you get the minute you cross the threshold." He says. He's also interested in the shops whose online experience looks and feels the same as being in the store.

Deirdre McQuillan, fashion editor of The Irish Times, who is new to the judging panel, wants to see shops with real energy behind them . That's really what it's all about, she says, "that people care and can talk with knowledge and passion, not just expertise, and that they make you feel welcome."

Nominate this year's best shops at irishtimes.com/bestshops