Online shopping remains popular, and Irish people prefer online shopping

According to the 2021 .IE Tipping Point report, two -thirds of online consumers in Ireland are spending more so far in 2020 than in 2019 , with 58% of consumers saying they will prioritise online shopping over offline shopping this year. The remaining 42% said they will do most of their shopping in stores this year, a figure that is also down from 48% last year .

As for the reason for choosing offline shopping, 61% of people said that offline shopping is more convenient ; the other 39% chose offline shopping because it gives them the opportunity to socialize and go out shopping , while last year, this figure was 55%.

For Irish shoppers who prefer to do most of their shopping online, they don’t like social interaction : 66% say e-commerce is safer and means less social interaction. 52% choose online shopping simply because it is more convenient, and 46% say it saves them time.

Another interesting piece of information is that 49% of Irish consumers say that most of their online shopping is from Irish small and medium-sized businesses, but 51 % say that most of their online shopping is from international retailers.

Meanwhile, according to another report published last summer , 53% of Irish consumers have chosen to do most of their online shopping at small and medium-sized enterprises since the start of the pandemic . In the latest report , this number has now shifted back to international retailers.

David Curtin, chief executive of .IE, said: “Irish consumers are looking to support local businesses during these tough times, but small and medium-sized businesses cannot expect this goodwill to last forever .

Four in five Irish SMEs say they are as busy or even busier than before the pandemic due to investment in online services, and more than half (up from 21% to 55%) now claim to have spent money improving their digital platforms.

Social e-commerce