e=com² : Retail strategy or Einstein theory
Joan Mulvihill’s response to Irish Independent article “Irish consumers to spend €20bn online by 2020 but strategy needed” please click here to read.
This is an interesting article. The stats are ones that have been touted for quite some time so there is nothing new there. What is interesting about this article is not what it says but rather what it does not say. There has been talk for ages now of a National Digital Strategy, which according to this article is “underway” and will be implemented in the “coming years”. And yet, it is not even this rather slow pace that is of interest to me. What interests me is the dearth of even headline ideas/concepts or indeed the nature of the ‘brave decisions’ that need to be made. My sense is that some of the strategy makers believe that supporting Irish retailers to have ecommerce websites is the answer to the problem. If only more Irish retailers would sell their products online then people wouldn’t shop from overseas anymore. I’m unconvinced.
The IIA has long supported Irish businesses developing their online sales proposition to enhance their relationship with their customers; through the provision of better value, better range and more choice. But that is not to say that every retailer should have their own site. Some need to take a more creative approach to channel management.
An understanding of consumer behaviour is required. Shoppers are not buying from Amazon or Net-A-Porter or ASOS because of the dearth of books, toys or clothes to buy from Irish retailers online. They are buying from Amazon, Net-a-Porter and ASOS because of their breadth of range, their pricing and ultimately free or comparatively low cost to ship. It costs less to have something delivered from Amazon than it does to park in town when I’m shopping. It definitely costs less to have something delivered from Amazon than it does to park in town, buy something and post it to New York to my godchild for her birthday. And so if I look online to Irish independent retailers, it is clear that they are hampered and disadvantaged by expensive shipping costs relative to the price of the item and short delivery times are a serious premium.
It is incredibly difficult for Irish retailers to compete. The National Digital Strategy element that deals with ecommerce has to encapsulate the infrastructure that supports ecommerce. And that infrastructure includes a lot more than quality broadband.
The size of the Irish market is small. Irish retailers’ capacity to reach scale and enjoy any economies of that scale requires vision for developing an international presence. We solicit the best tech companies in the world to set up in Ireland, many of whom provide online sales services. Is that the kernel of a solution? I want to support Irish independent retailers by ensuring they have the tools that they need to market their products/services but unless we sort out the infrastructure and the ambition for international retail then only a small number can achieve the scale needed to succeed. Perhaps our best bet for getting the Irish consumer to buy online from businesses in Ireland is to attract the ecommerce giants to HQ in Ireland. We’ve secured the tech companies that support them so why not secure them directly.
The strategy for achieving this would be predicated on having the best online sales specialists, fulfillment/operations planners, designers, digital advertisers and customer service operators based in Ireland with localised fulfillment centres overseas. We could incentive these businesses to operate through Ireland with a special online sales tax incentive and develop Ireland as an ecommerce hub for the sale of goods AND services online. Combined with the digital content strategy of the IDSC, ecommerce for digital content (books, music, film) in addition to the sale of physical goods might all be funnelled through Ireland as the uniquely placed global ecommerce hub.
This is what interests me. This article might not be revealing anything new or insightful but it stimulates thought. Creativity exists within the cracks.
My last day with the IIA *sniff*
My parting gift to my colleagues 
Today is my last working day as Membership, Marketing and Communications Manager with the Irish Internet Association. I’m going to work with one of our member companies Prosperity and looking forward to the change.
I will of course miss my colleagues Joan and Vicki much as I miss my daily interactions with Fergal, Irene and Darren who worked with me also during my time here.
But I think I will miss working with members a lot too. I know sometimes it may have seemed to you that I needed a lot of “reminding” to help you but there was also times when my thrice named role was a job for three people! However over the last three and a bit years I got into the habit of referring to myself as simply IIA Membership Manager. Another individual taking on this role that was newly created in 2008 might have found themselves focussing on the marketing or the communications but for me it was always about the members.
So a bit of advice for all members based on how I have seen some of our members really make the most of their IIA Membership:
- Get involved: share content, write a guest blog post, volunteer in our working groups.
- Come to events: the discount for members on two to three paid events will easily cover the cost of your membership.
- Share your views here on the blog, in our LinkedIn DISCUSSION (ahem!) group, on our Facebook page and even now in our Digital Digest.
- Network online: see point 3 above.
- Network offline: come to Meetball or better still present at it (especially those of you who want to tender to be an IIA Training Partner: gives us a chance to get an idea of your unique presentation skills)
- Email us or pick up the phone and ask us to help. Honestly two heads are better than one, especiallywhen one of them who isn’t stuck right in your problem. Consider us a sounding board for your online business.
The more the IIA knows about what you are up to the better we can connect, promote and inform!
So it’s goodbye from me but you can of course find me in numerous places online
Web Awards Backslappery
The Irish Web Awards return again this year and have moved to the lovely surroundings of the Mansion House on Dawson Street, Dublin 2. The hundreds of nominations have been whittled down to the shortlists which were announced this week.
A big congratulations to the IIA Members who made it this far. I’ll be there on the night rooting for you all! Maybe I should get a vuvuzela…
In a shameless bit of backslappery, two of us here in IIA HQ are up for awards for our own projects. My very own, The Rosie View, a podcast about what’s on the telly box with Rosemary MacCabe, is shortlisted in the Best Independent Podcaster category. Darren Byrne’s site Culch.ie, a pop culture blog run with a number of Ireland’s best bloggers, is shortlisted in the Best Web Only Publication and Best Entertainment Website categories.
Our boss Joan is inordinately proud of us and made me write this blog post. I swear.
We look forward to seeing you at this year’s awards. Tickets are on sale now and check out www.webawards.ie for more information.
Aaaand I’m back!
What more can I say? I have returned from my leave and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. Please feel free to contact me at members at iia dot ie if you would like to discuss your membership with me or just for a hello! I should also mention that until November I am working until 1.15pm daily.
My colleagues welcomed me back with the news that we have an exciting event coming up on October 7th: 8 Ways to sell more stuff. The final details are being ironed out but we expect to present a mixture of expert advice on key internet technologies for the retailer and case studies from Ireland and abroad on how to do it well and the pitfalls to avoid when retailing online.
Whether your company are seasoned retailers or thinking about taking the leap online, there will be presentations to interest you. Tickets are already selling but follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or subscribe to the Digital Digest newsletter for further information over the next fortnight.
Go Easy on Me, I’m New
Hello to all the IIA members and those who follow the blog. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Darren Byrne and I am the newest member of the IIA team. I’ll be helping out for a few months, while Roseanne is on maternity leave. You’ll most likely see me blogging, tweeting, Facebookering (hmmm!!!) for the IIA when I’m not pushing papers.
You may know me from such interwebby places as Twitter, Culch.ie and my own humble blog at DarrenByrne.com. If you have any queries, thoughts or ideas regarding the IIA, please feel free to get in touch darren {at} iia {dot} ie
Wish me luck!!!
See you in September
Today is my last day before I take six months leave. I will return to my duties in early September.
Members, in the meantime please, please don’t hesitate to contact members at iia dot ie with your guest blog posts. Check out the guidelines here.Members are also welcome to post all types of content to the main IIA.ie site as well. Read more here.
You can also contact the chairs of the IIA Working Groups who will be seeking blog posts, case studies and speakers in 2010.
Please bear with the IIA over the next couple of weeks as they adjust to my departure…
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What’s the IIA (t)wittering on about today?
- IIA News
- Innovation Leadership Recognised in Dublin
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- www.buyersclub.ie Launch Scholarship Programme for the Irish Internet Association (IIA) Diploma in eCommerce Management
- IIA STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO TOURISM IRELAND AWARDING CONTRACT TO LONDON BASED COMPANY
- IIA Upcoming Events
- IIA Member News
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- Newstalk and Sage search for Irelands most inspiring business stories
- Cloud Compare Launches 'Cloud Ready' Workshops for Business
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- It's easier than you think to win Government Business
