15 small Irish businesses are about to be brought into the digital age. 91pc of SME websites have no e-commerce capabilities.
Fifteen small businesses across Ireland have been selected to take part in the IE Domain Registry’s €150,000 OPTIMISE Fund, which will increase the level of e-commerce activity by these firms.
E-commerce activity is still critically low amongst Irish businesses. Some 91pc of SME websites have no e-commerce capabilities, an IEDR report revealed in April.
This is despite Irish consumers spending €700,000 online each hour.
‘As the economy continues to recover, the SME sector cannot overlook the value of e-commerce in converting new business’
– DAVID CURTIN
OPTIMISE fund was established by the IEDR to correct the low level of e-commerce among Irish businesses.
“As the economy continues to recover, the SME sector cannot overlook the value of e-commerce in converting new business,” said IEDR CEO David Curtin.
This year’s 15 OPTIMISE Fund recipients were chosen following an online public vote that determined 10 of the OPTIMISE recipients, with the remaining five businesses selected by an independent judging panel.
Digital transformation
The 15 winning businesses were:
GriffinsGardenCentre.ie (Cork; award-winning destination garden centre)
WalkShoes.ie (Cork; family footwear business)
TheOldMillStores.ie (Cork; retailers of design-led homewares and gifts)
Salingers.ie (Cork; menswear boutique)
Eirechrom.ie (Cork; mass spectrometry specialists for clinical research)
Adventure-Holidays.ie (Wicklow; outdoor adventure and activity holiday specialists)
CleanFreaks.ie (Dublin; on-demand service company for laundry, ironing, dry cleaning, alterations and shoe repairs)
DayToursUnplugged.ie (Dublin; family-run tour operator offering relaxed and informal group tours from Dublin)
GPMI-ltd.ie (Dublin; suppliers of packaging, print and LED systems solutions)
Madinks.ie (Dublin; self-funded, e-commerce start-up, offering low-cost printer ink cartridges and LaserJet toner cartridges)
PhysioExtra.ie (Dublin; two multi-disciplinary clinics in Dublin with a wide range of services and a community outreach programme to promote health and fitness)
Olytico.ie (Dublin; social media monitoring and analysis agency)
TheGaiety.ie (Galway and Mayo; husband and wife owned vintage and antiques store)
HookandLadder.ie (Limerick and Waterford; ‘Living Café’ with a café, cookery school and furniture and home accessories store all under one roof)
TotalShave.ie (Mayo; online retailer of the Irish-made Total Shaving Solution)
E-commerce image via Shutterstock
