Celebrating Innovation: The 2026 Digital Beacon Awards Sponsored by WD-40 Low Odor
Following a landmark inaugural year, the 2026 Digital Beacon Awards, sponsored by WD-40 Low Odor, continue to honor hardware stores and home improvement centers that excel in digital marketing and innovation. These awards highlight the industry’s most creative and effective digital strategies across several key categories.
2026 Digital Beacon Awards Categories
Best Social Media Post—Recognizes an individual social media post that demonstrates exceptional creativity, engagement or impact that resonates with the target audience.
Best Social Media Campaign—Honors a well-executed, multipost social media initiative that drives brand awareness, customer engagement or business objectives over a defined period.
Best Website or E-Commerce Experience—Awards a website or online store that excels in usability, design and functionality, delivering an intuitive and seamless customer experience.
Outstanding Community Engagement—Celebrates a digital initiative that successfully fosters meaningful interaction, connection or support within a brand’s community or local audience.
Top Digital Advertising Campaign—Recognizes an innovative, results-driven digital ad campaign that effectively leverages online channels to achieve measurable marketing success.
Beacon Award for Digital Excellence—The highest digital honor, this award will be presented to the best overall submission.
Judging the 2026 Digital Beacon Awards
Individual category winners will be featured on Hardware Connection’s website and social media. All retailers nominated within these categories will be considered for the Beacon Award for Overall Digital Excellence. A panel of hardware industry social media influencers and content creators will review entries, and winners will be determined by Hardware Connection staff.
The Road to Orlando
The 2026 Digital Beacon Awards winners will be featured on The Hardware Connection website and social media channels. The top honor, the Beacon Award for Digital Excellence, will be the only award presented live as part of the Beacon Awards ceremony at the Independent Home Improvement Conference in Orlando, Fla. which takes place July 29-30, 2026.
Thank you for submitting your nominations to the 2026 Digital Beacon Awards, sponsored by WD-40® Brand Low Odor Formula. The candidates’ creativity, innovation, and digital savvy makes selecting winners both a joy—and a challenge!
In the coming months, we’ll announce winners across all categories online, leading up to the Independent Home Improvement Conference, where the Retail Beacon Award, the Beacon Award for Best New Store and Beacon Award for Digital Excellence will be presented live.
Again, thank you for your support and to our Digital Beacon Award sponsor, WD-40 Low Odor Formula.
Submit Nominations
Nominations for the 2026 Digital Beacon Awards are officially open! We are looking for the most forward-thinking retailers in the hardware and home improvement industry who are pushing boundaries in the digital space. If you know an innovative dealer who has mastered social media, revolutionized their e-commerce experience, or created standout digital ad campaigns, we want to hear about them. We also encourage you to nominate your own business—this is your chance to showcase your hard work and be recognized as a leader in digital excellence.
