Finland’s top online stores recognized in eCom Awards gala
The eCom Summit & Awards, organized by Digital Commerce Finland, was held in Helsinki on 15 May. In the award gala, Dermoshop, known by its brand name Dermosil, received the award of the Online store of the Year, with 29 percent of all votes from the public. The top three also included Virtasen Kauppa and Verkkokauppa.com. Awards were given out in 18 categories.
SPL Company, the company behind the ukko.fi financial management service, was selected as the B2B Online store of the Year. Shoe store VIBAe was recognized as the Internationalizer of the Year, and Fiksuruoka received the award for the Sustainability activity of the year. Ossi Salo, founder of the Vähänkäytetty.fi service, got the award for the eCommerce Entrepreneur of the Year, and Elina Björklund, Chairperson of the Board of clothing label Reima, was selected as decision-maker of the year.
The public was invited to nominate companies for the awards, and an expert jury chose the winners of the categories from among the suggestions. The winner of the main category, Online store of the Year, was determined through direct audience vote. Thousands of votes were cast and more than two hundred companies were nominated.
“We received a huge number of great nominees from everywhere in Finland. The jury had a difficult task, as numerous online stores have done a great job and deserve recognition. The purpose of this event is ultimately to celebrate the entire field of Finnish digital commerce and all those involved in the industry,” says Ville Simola, CEO of Digital Commerce Finland.
The event was held for the first time this year, but it will become annual. The goal of the event is to showcase success stories in the digital commerce industry and inspire all companies and people involved in eCommerce.
The organizer of the event, Digital Commerce Finland, is a peer community for Finnish companies engaged in eCommerce as well as those providing services to them or otherwise interested in and influencing digital commerce. The community was founded by the Finnish Commerce Federation, the Association for Finnish Work, postal, logistics and eCommerce operator Posti, media companies Keskisuomalainen and Sanoma, and online payment service company Paytrail, and since its founding, 26 other partners have joined in. Digital Commerce Finland has more than 2500 members, which include online stores as well as companies providing services to them and other interested stakeholders.
“The biggest strength of the Digital Commerce Finland community is peer sparring. Our members understand that competing with each other in the home market is not the way towards development and internationalization. To make it in global markets, we need to join forces. I have been delighted to notice that our members unselfishly share concrete tips and learnings with each other. This helps all of Finland Ltd to succeed in the tough competition in international eCommerce,” says Leevi Parsama, Chairman of the Board of Digital Commerce Finland and eCommerce expert.
Digital Commerce Finland is a new societal and collaborative company that helps digital commerce grow faster. Its goal is to build the world’s most competitive digital commerce community in Finland. The launch of the community is supported by six founding organizations: the Finnish Commerce Federation, Keskisuomalainen, Paytrail, Posti, Sanoma and the Association for Finnish Work, as well as numerous other partners supporting the growth of digital commerce.