Hunt for a bargain encourages 43% of population to buy online in 2011

Last year saw a 7% increase in the number of Irish people shopping over the internet.

New findings from the Dublin-headquartered online research and strategy consultancy, Amas show that 43% of the adult population, in the Republic carried out commercial transactions online during 2011.

This figure is up on the 36% registered in 2010, and brings Ireland’s e-commerce trends in line with the EU average.

However, we still lag well behind our closest neighbour Britain where 71% of the population bought goods online last year.

According to Amas managing director, Aileen O’Toole, online shopping in Ireland is now reaching “critical mass”, but retailers are upping their game in response to the trends.

“Bargain-conscious Irish consumers are buying online in greater numbers and are using the internet as a powerful research tool before making a decision to buy in a conventional store.

“Irish businesses are investing in new, or upgraded, e-commerce sites, as sales through traditional channels, at best, remain flat and, at worst, show progressive, quarter-on-quarter declines,” she added.

Ms O’Toole said that the outlook for 2012 is for more growth, with cost savings the main driver.

Items like travel, books/music and electronic goods still top the list of goods bought online, but clothing is catching up.

On a regional basis, 50% of people living in Dublin bought online last year, while 48% of those living in the West (taken as counties Galway, Leitrim and Mayo, in the survey) did likewise.

While these two areas topped the list, no region had less than 30% of its inhabitants using the web as a shopping outlet. The South-West (measured as Cork and Kerry in the survey) ranked high, with 44% of its inhabitants shopping online.

The survey also found that an increasing number of older people are using the internet on a daily basis, with 21% of those aged between 60 and 74 claiming to be regular users, as opposed to 14% in 2010.