The jury's motivation

The winner is rewarded, according to the jury's motivation, "for the way he has used online communication to shape new consumer behavior and create new and efficient distribution channels for goods and services."

The Söderberg Trade Prize is awarded to the person or persons who, through outstanding theoretical or practical contributions, have contributed to the development of distribution in a broad sense.

- In recent years, a number of young Swedish entrepreneurs have revolutionized our online consumption habits, from music to fashion. Jarno Vanhatapio is one of these pioneers," says Dag Klackenberg, CEO of the Swedish Trade Federation and chairman of the jury for the Söderberg Trade Prize.

The prize is the largest of its kind in Sweden and is awarded for the 24th time this year. The prize money is SEK 500 000.

The award ceremony and prize lecture took place in connection with the Swedish Trade Federation's Annual General Meeting on May 7, 2012.

Jarno Vanhatapio
Jarno Vanhatapio trained as a bricklayer and worked as a builder. For three years, he worked on a Norwegian oil platform to afford his plans to start his own business. In 2003, he started the online retailer Nelly.com and ran it from his apartment in Borås. The focus was on women's underwear and sales took off right from the start. In just a few years, the business had a turnover of a couple of million.

The trend continued and today the company has a wide range of both men's and women's clothing, accessories and beauty products. In 2007, 90% of the company was bought by the e-commerce company cdon, which was then part of the MTG Group.