Irish retailers upgrading online offerings to survive in short term and set stage for more competitive future
VARIOUS degrees of lockdown restrictions since March 2020 have given many retailers the time – and a very real sense of urgency – to either get online for the first time or improve their existing digital presence.
Ross O’Colmain, manager of construction, cleantech, timber and consumer sectors at Enterprise Ireland, believes online retail in this country has probably packed about five to 10 normal years of progress into the last 12 months.
“Consumer behaviour had been shifting very gradually online so this was way down the priority list for most retailers and a bit of a ‘nice to have’,” he says. “Then, all of a sudden it became a matter of survival to have a good online presence.”
Reflecting that shift in priorities, more than 17,000 companies applied for a trading online voucher last year, with 1,396 of these applications approved.
This compares with just over 1,200 applications and approvals in 2019.
Provided through local enterprise offices, the voucher scheme offers grants of up to €2,500 – with co-funding of 50% required from the recipients – along with training and advice.
It’s open to businesses with fewer than 10 employees, a turnover of less than €2m, and a limited or no ecommerce presence.
Larger companies have also been offered support in adapting to make the most of the opportunities created by increased online demand.
Last April, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment announced a €2m Covid-19 Online Retail Scheme aimed at helping retailers with physical stores and an existing online presence.
This followed a €1.25m pilot scheme that funded projects from 40 applicants across two calls in 2019.
“The scheme recognised that the high street was under threat from the large ecommerce providers and that retailers needed to accelerate their evolution on the online journey,” says O’Colmain.
“We were fortunate that we had a model from the pilot to go with straight away to launch two schemes last year and to help facilitate companies going on that journey.”
High demand for the first call resulted in the initial €2m pot being increased to €6.5m – 183 retailers ended up being awarded grants averaging out at just over €35,500. In the second call, 145 companies shared €5.3m – an average of €36,700 per project.
Many of the companies that have undertaken projects to develop their digital capability over the last year have been able to both survive the pandemic and even thrive online, O’Colmain says.
“There are companies that are registering exports for the first time in their history. By their very nature a high street retailer would not be going after an export market.
"Now they’re able to do that and have been opened up to the opportunity that end customers are not just within their local neighbourhood or a radius of their store but potentially anywhere in the world that they can service.
“As much as this is about survival there are opportunities for retailers in this as well.”
NEXT BIG ADVENTURE
Set up as Ireland’s first adventure sports retailer in 1976, Great Outdoors added an online shopping presence in 2002.
“It started as just a catalogue of products where customers could do some research before coming to the store,” says company director, Derek Moody.
“Very soon we added the shopping cart option and the potential was almost immediately evident.
“Since then, it has been a continuous process of development and upgrading of platforms and systems and it has developed into a hugely important part of our business.”
The retailer’s online sales have been positively impacted by the pandemic, Moody says.
“The restrictions have been lifted and imposed again on a few occasions and each time they have been lifted our online business has remained as strong, if not better. We expect and are planning for this to continue to be the case.
“We have been quite fortunate in being able to redeploy staff from the shop floor or other areas of our business to the online team. It has kept up to 10 people in a job who otherwise would have been temporarily laid off.”
Before the first lockdown, Great Outdoors was already planning to further develop the online side of the business. “We identified the potential of accessing new markets but the cost of upgrading and moving forward was proving a challenge.
"The online retail scheme grant we received enabled us to fast track our plans so we are years ahead of where we originally planned. We are active in 10 new markets as a result.”
Over the coming weeks, Greatoutdoors.ie will move to a new platform that Moody says will deliver a range of upgrades and improved customer experience.
TURNING POINT
Trading in Galway city centre since 1910, family-run department store Anthony Ryan’s began selling homewares online just over 10 years ago.
With the launch of its new Anthonyryans.com site in December 2020, the company now also offers a full range of menswear, ladieswear and childrenswear.
“Since 2010 online sales have been gradually increasing year on year, but 2020 was a turning point in terms of our online journey,” says director Joseph Ryan.
“After the first lockdown last March, our online sales grew rapidly and this trend has continued all year.”
As a result, the three-person team working on the online side of the business has increased to 10 in recent months with the extra staff being redeployed from other areas of the business.
“Covid-19 has accelerated the shift from high street to online sales and although I feel customers still really enjoy and appreciate the whole in-store shopping experience, people who never shopped online before are now happy to do so,” Ryan says.
“I think consumers are now aware of where they’re spending their money and the importance of shopping locally and supporting local enterprise and jobs. As long as customers trust who they are buying from they are happy to spend online.”
Anthony Ryan’s had been planning to upgrade its website to a new ecommerce platform before everything changed so dramatically last March.
“This was a major investment in our online business and the online retail grant helped make this strategy a reality. We now have a fully integrated ecommerce platform that is capable of handling the levels of sales growth we anticipate over the coming years.”
THIRD TIME LUCKY
Having set up in Dublin in 1948, Best Menswear has grown to a chain of 11 stores specialising in made-to-measure suits as well as everything from trainers to formal wear across a range of well-known brands.
Before launching a new website at the beginning of October, the company had made previous attempts to trade online in 2010 and 2016. The new site, which carries the store’s full range, has been trading very successfully, says managing director, John Smith.
Seven people are currently employed to service the new online shop.
“During the November lockdown sales increased dramatically and we had to bring staff in from our stores to help with fulfilment,” Smith says. “Online retail is and will be an integral part of retail.”
As well as a significant initial outlay in financial and human resources, Smith says ongoing investment is required to constantly refresh the site with new content and products, as well as marketing to drive footfall to the site. “Not to mention fulfilment, packaging and delivery. It’s an expensive business!”
Funding from the online retail scheme was used to help develop the website, assist with graphic and photography costs and hire an ecommerce manager, which Smith describes a vital component in any successful webstore.
Plans going forward include continuing to develop and expand the customer base and the online offering, as well as looking to international markets. “It is our intention to target sales worldwide wide.
"Already after only four months we have shipped to 23 different countries.”
HEALTHY GROWTH
Family owned health food business Organico has been trading from Bantry, Co Cork since 1992 and now employs 27 people.
The business – which sells everything from wholefoods to baby care products and has a large zero waste department – is managed by the second generation of the Dare family – sisters Hannah and Rachel, along with their brother Jaime heading up the ecommerce team.
“We have been working on our online offering for approximately 10 years, but it has really taken off in the last three years,” says Hannah Dare.
“We developed it as an alternative sales channel, because even though we have a very vibrant business in Bantry, it is a small town with a limited customer base.
"Online gives us greater reach and this allows us to stock a wider selection and run special offers that in turn benefits our local community.”
The company sells over 3,000 products on Organico.ie but that’s not the full in-store range. “Because of the logistical constraints we don’t list many of our fresh foods online and some of our products are simply too heavy, bulky or fragile to ship. But we put up everything we can as we know people love the range we have to offer.”
New products have also been developed solely for online. “During the first lockdown we developed our working from home care pack for employers, which has really taken off!
"We now have a whole section of the website devoted to care packs. We ship them all over Ireland and also internationally.”
Organico charges a flat fee of €4.95 per delivery of up to 20kg of shopping. “We have hundreds of regular customers who place large orders weekly or monthly, which saves them time in doing the shopping and also the cost of petrol and parking, so it’s actually very good value.
"Dare says that while the shop has remained open over the last year, online is the fastest growing area of the business. “And it will be a major focus for us even when the restrictions lift.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
West Cork-based garden centre and mail order nursery Future Forests was set up 35 years ago by Mike and Cathy Collard and is now run by their daughter Maria Collard and her husband Matt Keane.
The company has had a nationwide customer base right from the beginning because it was supplying plants that were not readily available elsewhere at the time, says Maria Collard.
“We started out with a printed catalogue that got posted out to our customers. In the 90s we built a basic catalogue-based website but orders still had to be taken by phone or email. We built a strong mail order business despite not being able to order online.
“Moving to a cart-based website was a big challenge: we needed robust nursery stock management software that linked with the website and we needed to write thousands of plant descriptions and source photos. It took three years from concept to going live.”
Around 90% of Future Forest’s stock is now available online, with the rest either too delicate or large for shipping. There’s a flat rate of €15 per order. “Our costs for materials, packing and delivery are usually more than that.”
Online sales have increased substantially over the last year, Collard says. “In fact we are having to limit how much business we take online by turning our website off a lot of the time. That’s frustrating for us and our customers but there is an extraordinary demand for plants online, especially during the level 5 restrictions when garden centres are closed.”
Collard says Future Forest’s overall turnover has actually increased over the last 12 months. “Our retail team are picking plants for mail order at the moment while we are closed to the public and we have had to take on new people too.
“We are very grateful that we made the decision to upgrade our website when we did and were in a good position for the surge in online sales at the beginning of the pandemic.”
KEEPING IT REAL
Coming up to its 50th year in operation, family business The Book Centre trades out of four large stores in Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and Naas (Barker & Jones).
“We are what we like to call a ‘real bookshop’ – we focus on book atmosphere and customer service and go above and beyond to source any book our customers request,” says managing director, Maeve Ryan.
The company set up a website around 20 years ago to sell school books.
“This was, at the time, a revolutionary idea by my dad,” says Ryan. “We put a huge amount of time, money and effort into it, but it still took years to develop as it was such a new phenomenon.
“Then, in the last number of years as the internet became a normal course of everyday life, we began to develop our website further and add more products to it, beginning with our full book stock.
“We have continued to develop our site and add new stock onto it every day since. This has obviously been massively fast tracked over the last year.”
Ryan describes the website as the company’s lifeline in recent months.
“When we closed our shops we were still able to employ some of our staff and continue to reach and serve our customers.
"Sales are nothing compared to what they would have been if our shops were open and trading as normal, but we are really happy with the level of website orders and continue to work on growing them every day.”
As well as currently working on an SEO (search engine optimisation) and CRO (conversion rate optimisation) project, the business plans to continuously grow and upgrade its online presence.
“A website is an ever growing and changing facet of selling, and will always be a part of retail now. We aim to make our website be the highest standard it can be, and offer the highest level of customer service possible.”
SOFA SO GOOD
The 1933 Furniture Company has been manufacturing sofas since the 1930s and expanded into retail around 20 years ago.
These days – and under normal circumstances – it offers a wide range of furniture brands from its 40,000 sq ft store in Navan, Co meath.
At the moment, would-be customers do not have the option of buying products online.
“Our website only has 'shop window' functionality which helps users research and find out what’s available instore,” says online marketing manager, Conor Moran.
“It helps to facilitate and encourage customers to visit our Navan store. With Covid and the current restrictions the situation is of course very different but we’re managing via emails, phone calls, and video enquiries.”
The company was recently awarded a grant under the online retail scheme
“We plan to use the funding to enhance our online offering across all channels and create an impressive online research tool for furniture buyers that encourages them to make the trip to the store from all corners of Ireland to see, try and buy their dream furniture.
“We anticipate accelerated digital growth and we have a strong ambition to diversify and strengthen our online brand positioning – to deliver an engaging and interactive online customer experience.”
BUILDING BLOCKS
With 19 stores across the country, Bookstation is probably best known for selling bestsellers along with bargain books and a range of social and business stationery, party goods, craft and greeting cards.
Customers have had the option to buy from Bookstation.ie for several years.
“It was clear to us that our customers were doing more and more of their shopping online, and so it was important that we had a presence there too,” says David Gallagher. “That said, we wouldn’t have really sold much online with the exception of Christmas time.
The website was revamped in 2019. “That stood to us to us during the lockdown in early 2020 when our online business really took off.
“When all the shops were closed, people turned to online for their books.
"The sense of togetherness that saw people shop local online instead of with international companies has helped us greatly through a difficult period for retailers and we are very grateful to our customers for that.”
Plans for the future include building on the growth of the last year and establishing the company as a leader in Ireland and overseas.
“Fundamental to that will be continuing to improve our customer experience; decreasing our turnaround times and exploring new ways to deliver the best customer service possible.”
BEST FOOT FORWARD
Set up in Falcarragh, Co Donegal in 1939, family business Greene’s Shoes now has seven shops across Donegal, Galway and Limerick.
The company, which sells men’s, women’s and kids shoes across brands from Dr Martens to Amy Huberman, also has a strong online presence.
“We started selling online about 10 years ago because it was the way forward and it gave us an opportunity to sell to every county in Ireland,” says general manager, Orla McFadden.
“We started with a basic selection online, only one image with no descriptions to today selling the whole collection online.”
The business also now has a dedicated online team, its own photo studio, in-house product writers and an online chat service. “We upgraded our online platform so we could be fully integrated with our Epos and with our courier DPD.”
The full range is available via the website. “It’s important the customer sees all we offer as they might not visit our stores if they thought our ranges were limited. Also, a lot of people search online and then purchase in-store so again important to see a very varied and comprehensive range.”
McFadden says changed consumer buying behaviours as a result of Covid-19 and lockdown have benefited online sales. “Obviously when the shops reopened in June the online sales plateaued but they are still a lot stronger than before,” she says.
“But as a business with our seven shops closed for more than a third of the year in 2020 our turnover was down about 50%.”
A recent online retail grant will be used to grow online brand awareness, drive more traffic and users to the site and increase ecommerce performance and revenue.
The aim, says McFadden, is to turn strangers into frequent shoppers and to implement artificial intelligence to personalise the customer experience of the online store.
Going forward, Greene’s will also look to develop and implement a digital marketing strategy specifically for the UK and international markets.
GOLDEN TOUCH
A goldsmith for over 30 years, Garrett Mallon has been selling his own collections since 2002 and opened a craft gallery – Carlingford Design House – and ‘open to view’ workshop in Carlingford, Co Louth in 2014.
He had an ecommerce website for his own work and a brochure site for his craft gallery – known then as Carlingford Design House.
Closing down for the first lockdown last March gave Mallon time to think about the future of the business.
He decided to consolidate both elements of his operation into Garrett Mallon Design House and to focus on a single website and social media presence.
“I applied for a trading online voucher to form part of the rebrand as selling online combined with the physical store and social media strategy is definitely the way forward for the business,” he says.
“It is easier for customers to see the work online and the national mood of buying Irish-made products allowed me, through the website, to showcase the authenticity of my work. I hope to further enhance the site throughout the year.”
Online sales are already up 40%. “There are a lot of new customers and the more regular clients that I might have seen at events such as Gifted in RDS are able to access my work very easily. I feel the new website has brought my work to the attention of new audiences and this can only grow.”
Mallon stresses the importance of meeting growing customer service expectations online. “It is possible to give that little extra bit of customer service similar to what we hope to achieve in store.
"We offer a gifting service where someone can buy a gift online and have it posted to the end user with the added bonus of being able to also send a handwritten card with a message that we can provide.
"I always send a handwritten note from myself with my jewellery and this is helping to blend the online service with the personal touch.”
VIRTUAL SUCCESS
Drawing inspiration from the natural heritage around her family farm in rural Co Mayo, Elaine Kennedy has developed the Hawthorn Handmade Skincare range using 100% natural and sustainable ingredients and presented in eco-friendly and fully recyclable – as well as stylish – packaging.
With the exception of her lip balm, all of the products are vegan and cruelty-free.
Up until last March, wholesale accounted for 80% of the company’s business, with the remainder of sales coming from pop-up shops and events.
“I was also selling online, but my website had limited functionality and was getting very little traffic,” says Kennedy.
With the help of a trading online voucher she launched a new website last April. Online orders now account for 40% of the business and Kennedy believes this will continue to grow.
“Online offers my customers a direct connection to me, the maker behind the range,” she says.
“Each order contains a handwritten thank you note and sometimes a small gift. Little touch points like these add to the overall brand experience and creates a relationship with the individual using my products in their skincare routines.”
In recent weeks Kennedy participated in the Virtual Showcase buyer’s expo, which she describes as a resounding success. “While it is always great to meet in person, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to build a rapport with buyers virtually.”
Drawing on this experience, she plans to add a virtual buying appointments feature to her website.
“This facility will be open to customers who have specific skincare questions, as well as wholesale buyers interested in stocking the range.
Wholesale is still an important revenue stream for the business and my stockists have switched their focus to online too. With this in mind, I launched a selection of gift box options this week at Showcase to make it as easy as possible for stockists to sell my range online.”
MUSHROOMING SUCCESS
What started as a seasonal foraging hobby in the late 1990s has turned into an artisan – and profitable – family business for Catherine and Nikk George, who now grow a wide range of specialist and gourmet mushrooms in Co Wexford.
Until last March, food service companies accounted for 80% of Fancy Fungi Mushrooms’ business, with the remainder going to retailers, including Supervalu stores around the Wexford area and speciality shops across the country.
This completely flipped during the first lockdown.
The company has since adapted its business model and packaging products for retail and has also developed its online presence.
“We have had an ecommerce site for a number of years but sales were very slow. We redeveloped it last year with the help of a trading online voucher and this has given us wide exposure to new customers and greatly increased our visibility,” says Catherine George.
“Since relaunching our website our online sales have grown by 100%.”
The company had an eight-week trial in Aldi stores across the country before Christmas.
“This made our mushrooms very easily available nationwide which gave people the opportunity to easily find them and cook them for themselves instead of them just being available in restaurants.
As our Aldi trial came to an end our mushrooms, which were very popular, were still easily accessible to people online through our website.
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“With the extra exposure of our mushrooms through the Aldi trial, sales have increased hugely. We worked with a PR company during the trial and had literally hundreds and hundreds of messages via our social media sites.
“Our online sales are definitely a viable part of our growth plans for Fancy Fungi Mushrooms going forward.”
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- Published in association with Bank of Ireland.