It seems that 4imprint is back. The distributor, based in the U.K. with North American headquarters in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, said in a trading update last week that it is on track to reach $1 billion in revenue for 2022.
MarketWatch also reported that the company’s order counts for the first four months of the year were 11% higher than in 2019, while average order value was up 27%.
“New customer acquisition has remained encouraging, and the retention statistics reliably reflect the growing customer file,” the company said, according to ShareCast. “Management’s expectation for full-year 2022 operating profit is also now above the highest analyst forecast in the market.”
4imprint was one of the hardest hit large distributors early in the pandemic. In 2020, the company’s revenue dropped to $560 million, down 35% from $861 million the year prior. That was still enough to make 4imprint our No. 2 distributor by 2020 sales, but the company surrendered the top spot for the first time in years.
Last year, 4imprint fared far better, with sales rebounding 41% to $787 million. That was shy of its 2019 total, but the distributor was optimistic that its recovery would continue.
“Even as challenges remain regarding the supply chain, inflationary pressures and the lingering effects of the pandemic, our performance in 2021 further demonstrates the flexibility and resilience of our business model,” the company said at the time. “The board is very pleased with the group’s progress in 2021, and is confident that the qualities embodied in our brand continue to resonate with our customers.”
Evidently, that progress has continued. If 4imprint indeed reaches the $1 billion mark, it would become the first promo distributor to do so, joining a few suppliers as the only industry companies to surpass that figure. With a significant portion of 4imprint’s sales coming from trade shows and events business, this would be a positive sign for the promo industry overall, even as the company cautioned that nothing is guaranteed.
“In particular, we are cognizant of potential issues relating to possible further COVID variants, supply chain disruption, inventory availability, increasing cost of product, availability and cost of labor, the effect of inflation on our customers’ budgets and the general threat of economic recession,” it said.
