Irish retailers for all your online Christmas shopping
We have been overwhelmed, in the best possible way, by the response to our original list, a few weeks ago, of 100 Irish websites where you can buy lovely, unique and good-value presents in the run-up to Christmas.
Almost as soon as it appeared, business owners and many of their customers emailed us, tweeted us, sent us Instagram messages and contacted us on Facebook to champion more Irish companies doing the business online.
That response matters, because we all know that the run-up to Christmas, with so many physical shops in lockdown, is going to be incredibly hard for many businesses. It is also going to be a challenging time for shoppers, as they try to get organised for a Christmas like never before with more than 40 shopping days taken from them almost overnight.
We know the problems all too well, but we know the solution, too, or at least part of it. The internet. But, as we have said before and will say again, shopping online comes with a caveat. As much as 70 per cent of Irish consumers’ virtual spending leaves the country as people shop overseas.
It doesn’t have to be that way. As we are learning, there are many, many local sites that need our support this month and every month. If we could keep just 10 or 20 per cent of our online spend this year at home it would inject tens of millions of euro into our local economies. That would save jobs and keep businesses going.
So our 100 became 200, and is now becoming 400.
See more here …
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/400
