IMPACT grew 73% in 2021 - now Europe awaits
At IMPACT, we had a pretty remarkable year in 2021. Thanks to 48% organic growth and our merger with Swedish commerce consultancy Improove, group revenue increased by 73% from 158 to 274 million Danish Kroner (DKK). At the same time, the result tripled to 14 million DKK. Ahead of us is a year that focuses on consolidation and controlled growth – as well as an ambition to expand further into Europe.
We might as well admit it from the get-go. This piece of news is a whole lot more inside-out than what we normally post. But we couldn’t not talk about our results in the past year, and the exciting times we see ahead of us.
2021 really stood out in at least two ways. First, we experienced an increasing desire to invest in the wake of the digital acceleration that corona unleashed. Second, we completed our first acquisition outside Denmark when we merged with Swedish-Portuguese commerce company Improove.
Together, this means we as a group had a record-breaking turnover of 274 million DKK, which equals an increase of 73% compared to IMPACT’s turnover in 2020. The operating profit tripled to DKK 14 million across the group.
I’m really satisfied with the result in 2021. Not least as we also had quite a few vacancies throughout the year. That means we had a strong focus on creating the best workplace for both talents and the industry's heaviest experts. We’re now harvesting the fruit of those efforts, but the many vacancies last year really put our result in perspective.
A combination of strong organic growth and our strategic merger with Improove means that IMACT has now cemented its position as the largest commerce consultancy in Scandinavia and the largest partner-driven consulting house in Europe.
Increasing complexity in digital commerce
Another notable aspect when looking back at 2021, is the development of our client engagements. The projects we delivered in the last year underpin that digital commerce today is extremely business-critical and more complex than ever.
Digital transformation may be in danger of becoming a worn-out term. Yet we’ve found that our role is increasingly to help companies orchestrate the change that washes over them when sales channels are digitised. It is fundamentally about being software architects in an increasingly complex IT systems landscape. But a growing part of our work is about helping companies adapt processes, adjust organisations and develop new services and business models.
As a natural consequence of the rising complexity of commerce, the magnitude of our client engagements is on the rise. Five years ago, customer relationships were typically in the order of three to eight million DKK. Today, it’s no longer unusual to see customer commitments of up to 20-30 million DKK.
From acquisitions to innovation
With 48% organic growth and a further 25% top-line growth through the merger with Improove, it’s natural to consider if the pace will continue in 2022. While we believe there’s still a lot of momentum in the digital commerce space, our goal is to have sustainable growth and focus on even more value-creating processes and innovation.
“We’ve always been at the forefront of product development and innovation. For example, in relation to tying sales channels together or using artificial intelligence to create better customer experiences. But we will put even more focus on innovation in the coming year,” explains Holst, who mentions the Future Commerce program as an example of what innovation looks like in practice.
If you’re curious about what sustainable growth means to us, the answer is that we expect between 20–25% organic growth in 2022.
Gaining ground in Europe
In addition to innovating even harder, the international agenda is a key focus area this year. At the turn of the year, we released a new three-year strategy called ‘European Challenger’. This focuses on how we can take further advantage of the strong position we’ve gained in the field of commerce.
We are now the largest specialised commerce agency in Scandinavia with a unique combination of experience, technology, business, data and marketing. But we have no doubt that we also have a justification in Europe – not least by virtue of our track record in helping customers succeed in global commerce. We think and act globally, and already today 30% of our employees sit outside Denmark’s borders - either in one of our four offices in Sweden, Portugal and Serbia, or in one of our employee 'hubs', which we have opened in several locations around the world.
Are you still curious?
Reach out to our Marketing Director, Kristoffer Okkels, if you’ve got questions or comments to our results in 2021.