Amazon has already established itself as a serious player in the Irish e-commerce market. With its own dedicated Irish store set to launch this year, the scene is set for a battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of Irish consumers, writes Brendan Almack, MD of Wolfgang Digital
In 2024 Amazon announced the imminent launch of Amazon.ie. With 47% of people now intending to shop more often with Amazon, retailers need to put plans in place to secure their own customer base and get ready to go to battle for the Irish shopper.
Wolfgang Digital, in partnership with Amárach Research, has carried out a nationwide survey to gauge Amazon’s footprint in Ireland, estimate the likely impact of its dedicated Irish site, and identify how Irish retailers can continue to win online.
The Key Findings
One of the largest retailers in Ireland: Amazon is already one of the largest retailers in the Country: 78% of Irish adults have purchased from Amazon, with this number jumping to 91% among those aged 35-44.
An Expected Surge in Spending: 47% of those surveyed say they will shop more frequently once Amazon.ie is launched, with 37% still on the fence.
Regular Shoppers: 35% of people in Ireland buy from Amazon at least once a month, while 18% of Dubliners are shopping on the site every single week.
Amazon Prime’s Growing Reach: Over half (51%) of Irish Amazon consumers have an Amazon Prime membership, rising to 60% in Dublin.
A Broad Shopping Basket: Technology (60%), homewares (57%), and books (46%) are the most popular purchases among Irish Amazon customers.
Amazon’s Footprint
Our research suggests that Amazon already takes in between €1.5 billion to €2 billion annually from Irish shoppers.¹ This means up to 12% of all online spending in Ireland is currently flowing through Amazon.² With a dedicated local presence, the figure is expected to climb, bringing both challenges and opportunities for homegrown retailers.
The most common spending range for Irish shoppers is between €101 and €250.
When asked why they would choose Amazon over an Irish e-commerce website – price, product range, and free delivery were cited as the top reasons.
The Battle for the Irish Customer
Irish retailers don’t have Amazon-sized budgets and need to think carefully about how they use their advertising spend for maximum impact. Firstly, remember what the battle is for. It’s for a customer, not just a sale and spoiler alert, selling on Amazon might not be the answer.
So, what is? Competing with a global giant that turns over more than the entire GDP of Ireland requires retailers to focus on 3 key strategies.
- Look for efficiencies within your marketing budget – acquire a customer once
The biggest inefficiency in e-commerce right now occurs when retailers pay digital platforms multiple times to re-acquire their own customers. This doesn’t need to be the case. Collect your customer data within a customer relationship management (CRM) platform and connect that data to the digital platforms you are using for customer acquisition. This allows you to exclude your current customers from any paid acquisition activity, maximising your budget for new customer acquisition.
- Increase the value of every customer – increase lifetime value
Getting your customers to spend more, more often increases the ROI of your entire marketing investment. Your secret weapon against Amazon is your customer data and your understanding of your own customers. Use this data to reactivate, upsell, and cross-sell to your customer base via owned channels such as email marketing. According to our own data, this approach can yield an average increase of 23% in customer lifetime value.
- Get Found by AI – expand your search engine optimisation to AI optimisation
Product discovery is evolving rapidly. Google and Amazon still dominate but increasingly people are turning to AI solutions such as Chat GPT as part of their research process. This will continue to grow and at Wolfgang, we are already seeing website traffic and sales via these platforms for our clients. It is increasingly important for your business to have visibility across these platforms as search engine optimisation expands into AI optimisation.
A Defining Moment for Irish E-Commerce
The launch of Amazon.ie is set to redefine the Irish e-commerce landscape, but Irish retailers have proven their resilience time and time again. A focus on maximising the impact of your own customer data and expanding your visibility into growing channels, will put you on the front foot for the battle ahead.
Brendan Almack is managing director of Wolfgang Digital.
