Ireland may not be your first thought when you consider emerging global markets ripe for the ecommerce pickings but think again.
When you do think again your first thoughts maybe that we’re about to tell you to list on eBay.ie (and perhaps you should), but ecommerce isn’t limited to eBay, Daily Deal sites are growing in Ireland and sell through rates and prices can compare very favourably with the UK. Deal sites aren’t ideal for every retailer as they are after all looking for a deal, but if you’ve perfectly good but aged stock or excess inventory to shift then Daily Deal sites (UK or elsewhere) are well worth considering.
There’s a snag with Irish Deal sites though, and that is you’ll probably need a local partner to assist which is where Irish based Epack reckon they can help.
Irish Fast Facts
Ireland ranks 15th in the world with a GDP per Capita of over $44k compared to the UK’s 28th place with just over $36K
Ireland has recently been crowned the fastest growing economy in Europe growing by 4.8% in 2014 against 3.1% in UK
Online sales increased over €4 Billion in 2014 with over 70% of these sales landing in the shopping carts of non .ie Websites
Daily deal sites quote a higher click through and purchase rate on Ireland promotions compared with the same offer running on UK sites.
Daily Deal site example – UK vs IE
Sonic Online went on promotion with LivingSocial UK and LivingSocial Ireland at the same time, with an attractive French Dressing Unit offered at £89 and €109 respectively. The results ended up with Livingsocial.ie outselling the UK offer by over 40%.
Whilst no-one is disputing the Irish population is much smaller than that of the UK, France or Germany, so is the competition and that’s what makes the opportunity so exciting for UK ecommerce retailers.
But they want stock based in Ireland
One of the difficulties you’ll find with getting product sold on Irish daily deal sites is that they don’t like partnering with retailers whose product ships from the UK mainland. They want to know the product is in place ready to ship immediately to the consumers as soon as they purchase (Frankly I get the impression that they’ve been burnt by drop shippers in the past).
Back to Epack, as well as assisting with the basic requirements you’d expect from a fulfilment house, Epack say that they can also assist with introductions for UK retailers to Irish Daily Deal sites.
If you’re interested in a partnership approach to attacking ecommerce in Ireland than you can contact Epack on +353 85 806 5376 or through their website to find out more.
