Irish SMEs overlook ecommerce sector

Moreover, Curtin claims that SMEs, as a result, lose revenues, mostly because shoppers are more into the online medium, independent.ie reports. The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in Ireland show that half of 16 to 74 year olds bought goods over the internet in 2014.

Research by UPC has shown that Irish consumers are spending EUR 6 billion online annually, with over 60% of sales going to businesses abroad. Despite the obvious benefits, less than a quarter (23%) of small businesses and 43% of medium-sized businesses had ecommerce sales in 2014. This compares with around half (49%) of large enterprises with ecommerce sales.

Larger firms are better at promoting their ecommerce websites, with 44% of total sales of large enterprises done through their website. This compares with just 15% of small enterprise sales and 20% of medium-sized businesses. SMEs have no problem purchasing goods online, with 54% of medium-sized firms and 45% of small enterprises making ecommerce purchases in 2014.

SMEs are quicker to set up a social media presence, however. The CSO statistics show that, in 2014, six in ten Irish businesses used some type of social media, whether Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. Ireland ranks second among the EU-28 countries for its enterprises using social media.

IEDR has set up the Optimise ecommerce website development programme to allow Irish SMEs to progress to taking orders online. This is the fifth year of the programme, which has already provided 60 SME owners with consultation, training and ecommerce development support. In 2015, 15 new businesses will benefit from the programme, and for the first time it is also open to those firms that have been offline to date.

In 2014, the Government launched a national trading online voucher scheme which, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland and local enterprise offices, aims to get 2,000 small businesses trading online by the end of 2015.