Empathy Marketing, the company that operates the Pigsback.com consumer loyalty website, has announced strong profits for 2004. The company reported operating profits in Ireland in the region of €500k on the back of strong revenue growth to more than €3m for the year to 31 December 2004.
The results leave the company in a strong cash position and Empathy Marketing said it expected to grow revenue and profits again over the coming year. This spring, the company plans to launch on the UK market and has already opened offices in London to support this move, having raised the finances to back the venture.
In a statement, the company attributed its revenue growth mainly to increased activity levels by consumers on the Pigsback.com site, in addition to greater spending on the medium by brand partners.
The company also revealed site statistics as part of its announcement. More than 200,000 unique members have been active on the site measured over the last 12 month period to December. During any week one third of this number is active. All told, Pigsback.com averages six million page impressions and 500,000 visits per month, with a further 400,000 emails read by its members.
This year, more than 90,000 members printed in excess of 3.5 million coupons from the site to make savings in their shopping bills. As part of its loyalty scheme, Pigsback.com issued over 100 million PiggyPoints in 2004, which the company said was equivalent to €1m in rewards.
Empathy Marketing has established relationships with more than 350 partners since it launched Pigsback.com in 2000 and the site currently lists close to 220 different offers.
According to recent Joint National Internet Research figures, Pigsback.com is the sixth most visited website in Ireland over the past half-year, having moved from 11th position.
By Gordon Smith
