With much of the country in lockdown for large periods of 2020, online sales by Irish retailers grew by 159% during 2020 according to new research published by Wolfgang Digital, the Dublin-based digital agency.
According to “On The Money: The Irish E-Commerce Report 2021” which is published by Wolfgang, record sales were recorded by Irish-owned and Ireland-based retailers during 2020 and the 159% growth rate compares with an average annual growth rate of 32% between 2017 and 2019.
The report only analyses Irish retailers and does not include the big international online retailers like Amazon or Aliexpress. But the report also highlights that Amazon appears to have cut its advertising spend in Ireland by approximately 50% post-Brexit. This presents a window of opportunity for Irish e-commerce retailers of all sizes to win new customers while Amazon develops its first fulfilment centre in Ireland.
According to Alan Coleman, CEO and founder of Wolfgang Digital: “Irish businesses have seen a spectacular return on investment in e-commerce in 2020. While Brexit has undoubtedly posed a massive challenge to smaller retailers, Amazon’s move to temporarily halve its ad spend in Ireland is a massive opportunity for those businesses that can react quickly.”
The research also reveals that 67% of Irish online retailers are now in the “one million plus club”, that is merchants that turned over €1m or more in online revenue. This figure is up from 41% in 2019. In addition, it shows that the largest 15% of retailers in the market claimed an enormous 84% of total consumer spend. Meanwhile, the smallest 35%, the “long-tail” of small Irish businesses, battled it out over a meagre 1% of the e-commerce market.
To read the report in full CLICK HERE
