Efforts to encourage consumers to buy local appear to be falling on deaf ears as the vast majority of Irish shoppers continue to avoid online Irish retailers.

Research commissioned by Digital Business Ireland, the representative body for the Irish e-commerce sector, and .IE, the national registry for .ie domain names, shows just one in four Irish consumers make a consistent effort to purchase from Irish websites.

The study, carried out by Ireland Thinks based on a nationally representative sample of over 30,000 panellists, highlights the need to accelerate efforts in helping businesses to digitise their operations to ensure consumers have adequate choice when trying to buy Irish online.

Some 27% of consumers always make a conscious effort to purchase from Irish websites, rising to 40% among those aged 65 and over, but the young people (18-24) are far less concerned with supporting Irish, with just 10% claiming to always try to buy from Irish sites.

Around 35% of women make the effort to buy Irish online compared to 19% of men and 24% of people earning between €30,000 and €50,000 per year.

In Association with

The findings show an about-face in attitudes among consumers compared to the depths of the pandemic in 2020 when nearly half of shoppers (49%) were making the effort to purchase good from Irish websites.

"While consumers made a stellar effort to purchase from Irish retailers online at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, evidently, there has been substantial drop-off in support in recent months. For the sake of economic prosperity, it is essential that we revive the initial sense of patriotism which was embedded in consumers in early 2020," Lorraine Higgins, secretary general of Digital Business Ireland, said.

"As a country, we need to collectively accelerate our efforts to digitalise, and support SMEs in enhancing their online functionality, in order to adequately respond to consumer preferences."

Oonagh McCutcheon, corporate communications manager at .IE, added: "At the very least, an Irish business needs a website that clearly describes its service, opening hours, location and contact information.

"Those selling a physical product should integrate e-commerce directly into their website or alternatively, sell via a third party platform. Most of the tools required to make a professional-looking, revenue-generating website are inexpensive. They are an extremely worthwhile investment."

Digital Business Ireland figures show that for every €10 spent on Irish products, more than €40 is generated in benefits to the local community in the context of employment.

(Pic: Getty Images)