Irish online economy grew 159% during Covid-19

Wolfgang Digital has revealed that Irish online retail sales grew by 159% in 2020. This is up from the average annual growth of 32% between 2017 and 2019. The trend was revealed following analysis of over half a billion euro of online spend, an estimated 7% of the total Irish e-commerce market size.

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.

Speaking about the study, Alan Coleman, CEO and founder of Wolfgang Digital said: “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 data also revealed that 67% of Irish online retailers are now in the “one million plus club”, that is merchants that turned over €1 million or more in online revenue. This figure is up from 41% in 2019.

The research 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.

‘On The Money: The Irish E-commerce Report 2021’ is available free to download at https://www.wolfgangdigital.com/blog/irish-ecommerce-report-2021