Irish ecommerce company ChannelSight is creating 60 new jobs ahead of an even larger expansion that will see headcount rise to 350 by the end of 2023.
Founded in 2013, ChannelSight is led by John Beckett, the man who helped develop Ryanair's first website while still at school. It currently employs just over 100 people and its clients include Procter and Gamble, Whirlpool, Spectrum Brands, Johnson and Johnson and Group SEB.
Mr Beckett told The Irish Times the company was experiencing significant demand from new and existing clients for its solutions, with revenues expected to be up 60 per cent this year. The company hit breakeven for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2020.
He said Channelsight was hoping to have recruited for the 60 new roles by the end of the first half of 2022 and is "extremely excited" about the opportunities arising from its move into the so-called "digital shelf" analytics space.
Channelsight allows brands to add “where to buy” buttons to their digital content to help generate sales by encouraging consumers towards online retailers where they can make purchases. More recently it has expanded its offering to include “digital shelf” analytics that gives brands further insights into consumer thinking.
Currently, this part of the business only accounts for about 10 per cent of revenues. However, the plan is to build this to up to at least half of sales over the next few years.
Insights
“We aren’t the only company focused on this space but what we are trying to do is use the specialist data set we have, which is something that can’t be replicated, and use it to target really niche insights that will give brands insights into what is happening and what they need to be doing,” Mr Beckett said.
“We’re looking to grow headcount to 350 people by 2023 and by that point we’re hoping this part of the business will represent around 50 to 60 per cent of revenues. There is a huge target market for this, and we have a unique capability due to the data we have so its really exciting.”
ChannelSight raised €10 million in early 2019 in part to help fund its expansion into the analytics space. Its backers include Amsterdam-based software-as-a-Service (Saas) investor Connected Capital, Nauta, Dublin-based Act Venture Capital and Enterprise Ireland.
Mr Beckett is also the founder of Forestry Partners. This is a climate and biodiversity-focused not-for-profit that brings together leading industry figures alongside carbon, forestry and biodiversity experts to partner with Irish businesses to improve the State’s climate-change performance through the creation of large areas of new native woodlands.
