March 1st 2019
New fund to accelerate retailers’ online offering and increase competitiveness
Retail Excellence, Ireland’s largest retail representative body, has welcomed the announcement today of recipients of the first call of the new Online Retail Scheme. The scheme is delivered for the Government by Enterprise Ireland.
Eleven retailers were awarded funding as part of the new €1.25m fund, which is targeted at online retailers to strengthen their online offering to enable them to reach a wider customer base. Today’s announcement was made by Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD.
Retail Excellence has been working with Enterprise Ireland and the Department for several years to make the case for dedicated funding to support Irish retailers to secure a great slice of lucrative online trade.
Welcoming the announcement, Bryan Rankin, head of public policy at Retail Excellence said:
“The Online Retail Scheme is very welcome and will give retailers the resources to respond to external challenges like exporting post-Brexit, weaker consumer confidence and increasing business costs. While many smaller retailers have fantastic products and services that will appeal to international customers, they need to invest in eCommerce platforms and get expert advice. Retail contributes over €7 billion to the Irish economy and sustains 282,000 jobs.
“We are particularly pleased to see that nine out of the 11 successful recipients are active members of Retail Excellence, and we look forward to the announcement of the Phase 2 funding.”
The Online Retail Scheme was introduced by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation as part of the ongoing work of the Retail Consultation Forum, which Minister Humphreys chairs. The scheme is administered by Enterprise Ireland, and with a fund of €625,000 available under the first competitive call, provided grant funding ranging from €10,000 to €25,000 was awarded to the successful applicants.
The 11 retailers awarded funding, who operate in a variety of sectors including, music, traditional Irish produce and giftware, and marine and outdoors equipment are:
Golden Disc Group, Dublin.
Clydaville Investments Limited t/a The Kilkenny Group, Dublin
Inish Health (Muff) Limited, Donegal
House of Ireland, Dublin
Carrolls Irish Gifts, Dublin
Great Outdoors Ltd, Dublin
Arboretum Ltd, Carlow
CH Marine Ltd, Cork
SAOS Ltd,t/a Star Schools Supplies, Dublin
O’Sullivan Safety Ltd, Dublin
Rathwood, Carlow