‘Green Friday’ a success but more money going overseas

Revolut figures suggest 31% of all Irish consumer spending for November went outside the State

Money that would previously have been spent physically in Irish shops and hospitality businesses was instead spent on overseas websites last month. Picture Dan Linehan

The campaign to turn Black Friday ‘Green’ appears to have borne some fruit, with new data from Revolut showing 43% of Irish users online spend went to Irish businesses this year.

In 2019, 67% of online spend by Irish customers was with overseas businesses, with just 33% going to indigenous businesses. This year, there was a 10% increase in users online spend with Irish businesses (43%), though more than half (57%) still went abroad.

Revolut, which has some 1.2 million customers in Ireland, warned that while a larger percentage of users' monies was spent with local businesses this year, overall, foreign entities are seeing greater gains.

In total, the online bank's figures suggest 31% of all Irish consumer spending for November went outside the State. Last year that figure was 18%.

In effect, money that would previously have been spent physically in Irish shops and hospitality businesses was instead being spent on overseas websites, Revolut said.

Commenting on the figures, Dr Paul Scanlon, Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin said Ireland’s status as a small open economy means such leakages are inevitable following a shift to online trading but are nevertheless problematic from the standpoint of the domestic economy.

“They cause a decline in Irish incomes, which in turn amplify the fall in domestic purchases,” he said.

Mr Scanlon said this week’s reopening of the economy, however, provides Irish-based firms with “a timely opportunity to arrest this decline in their market share.”

Covid doesn’t curb Christmas spend 

Despite most retailers remaining shut throughout the month of November, Revolut’s data suggests this did not stop Irish consumers from getting the Christmas shopping done.

Compared to last November, spending in toyshops shot up 73% last month, with sportswear stores seeing massive gains of 84%.

Electronics retailers also did well, up 45%, while bookshops saw a 37% increase. 

Overall, consumer spending this November was 1% higher than in November 2019, despite the lights being out in many of Ireland's main street stores, leading to worries as to whether newly re-opened shops can expect a traditional Christmas rush to recuperate sales lost during the six-week lockdown.