Wallpoet entered 2025 with high ambitions and an aggressive growth target set at the turn of the year. The goal was to reach a turnover of over 20 million Swedish krona, driven by hopes of a turning economic climate and favorable market conditions.
But the year-end report instead shows a decrease. Turnover landed at 10.1 million Swedish krona, a drop of almost 22 percent compared to last year's 12.9 million. Operating profit also took a hit, falling from a surplus of approximately 156,000 Swedish krona to a loss of just over 900,000 Swedish krona.
Were forced to slow down
The explanation for the significant loss lies in the fact that the sales year did not get the start the e-retailer had planned for.
Unfortunately, the recovery was much more prolonged than we had anticipated. Especially the first quarter of 2025 was significantly weaker than expected," says Erik Planander.
This led to a rapid reassessment of the strategy.
We did not get the return on our marketing investments that our growth plans were based on," says Erik Planander and continues:
"Since we are self-financed and do not have a large war chest, we needed to adjust costs. During the remainder of the year, we therefore reduced marketing investments to recover from the weak first quarter, and that affected growth during the year."
But despite the weak operating profit, the bottom line of the year-end report shows a result of almost zero (-435 Swedish krona). This was possible thanks to a financial item of just over 920,000 Swedish krona. However, this did not consist of current interest income.
The item includes, among other things, accounting adjustments related to previous periods as well as items related to payment flows and currency management," says Erik Planander.
He also says that the reported operating profit in isolation gives a misleading picture of how the company's e-commerce actually performed during the year.
The ongoing operations ended the year closer to a zero result than the operating profit in isolation might suggest. 2025 was a challenging year operationally, primarily due to the weak first quarter.
To counter the tough start, the company chose to pull the handbrake and redirect daily operations. By reducing risks, they were able to gradually stabilize the figures.
During the remaining three quarters, we ran the business much more cautiously to recover as much as possible of the negative start to the year," he says.
Closer monitoring yields results
The tight line during the past year not only had a short-term effect on the bottom line, but also shaped the company's working method going forward. The insights that the company gained have resulted in a completely new and selective strategy.
For us, the most important lesson from 2025 is to be even more disciplined about marketing investments and profitability per market and channel," says Erik Planander.
With a more stable economic climate in its wake, the company has actively worked during 2026 to optimize its marketing efforts. By continuously evaluating which channels generate profit, resources are now reallocated with shorter notice.
We have become better at scaling what works and faster at cutting back on what does not meet our profitability requirements. We also monitor developments much more closely than before, which means we can adjust investments and priorities more quickly when something deviates from our goals," he says.
The more data-driven method has had a direct impact on the books during the first three quarters of the current year. Sales have strengthened, but above all, margins have improved.
2026 has been a stronger year in terms of profitability. We currently expect to close the year with a slightly higher turnover than 2025, but above all with a clearly better profitability," says Erik Planander.
Profitability before growth
As the gaze now turns to next year, it is clear that the previous strategy has been redrawn. Instead of blindly chasing volume, the priority is to build a business that covers its own costs.
We have clearly shifted the focus from growth at all costs to profitable growth. But that does not mean we do not want to grow. On the contrary, we still see great opportunities both domestically and internationally," says Erik Planander.
The e-retailer plans to continue on the chosen path, with the hope that the new working method will have a lasting effect on the core of the business before being ready to step on the gas again.
For 2027, the ambition is therefore to build on the development we have seen during 2026: a stable and profitable core, where we can then scale the markets and initiatives that show they work," concludes Erik Planander.