Press Statement                                                                                                                                              20 December 2016

Opportunities Remain for Irish SMEs to Grow Online Sales

Commenting on the release of today’s (20/12/16) CSO Information Society Statistics on Enterprise, Ian Talbot, Chief Executive Chambers Ireland said, “Ireland continues to perform strongly in online sales and remains the highest amongst the EU28 with 30% of sales via e-Commerce. However, it is concerning that this figure is lower amongst small and medium sized enterprises with online sales activity closer to 23% for businesses of less than 50 employees. Indigenous Irish SMEs must look to reap the benefits of the European Digital Single Market, particularly given the need to identify new markets post Brexit and in the event of UK withdrawal from the Single Market. When planning for 2017, small businesses should look to the opportunities to develop their online capacity through the Trading Online Voucher Scheme and the Innovation Voucher initiative.

The growth in social media use by Irish enterprise signals an increasing effort to engage with potential and existing customers online and shows that Irish business is adapting to the needs of the modern consumer.”

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