Online and Mobile Retailing - Ireland - March 2014
Introduction
 
The longer hours Irish consumers are working have resulted in less time to engage in leisure shopping; thus creating a greater demand for increased convenience when purchasing goods and services. Combined with the increasing ownership of internet-enabled mobile devices, this provides retailers operating in Ireland with the opportunity to grow retail sales from online and mobile channels.

This report examines the online and mobile retailing sector throughout the island of Ireland, and highlights the frequency with which Irish consumers shop online and through mobile channels, what goods and services they purchase through them and their attitudes towards online and mobile retailing.

Key themes of the report
●	What is the value of the online and mobile retailing sector in Ireland? – What is the size of the online and mobile retailing sector in Ireland? What social, technological and economic factors are driving or inhibiting the growth of the online and mobile retailing sector in Ireland?
●	How often do Irish consumers shop online and through mobile devices? – How frequently do consumers purchase online? Who are the most likely consumers to frequently make a purchase online?
●	What types of products and services are Irish consumers buying online? – What types of goods and services do Irish consumers buy when shopping online and via mobile platforms?
●	What would encourage Irish consumers to shop online more frequently? – Would free postage encourage more consumers to shop online? Could delivery lockers at convenient locations encourage consumers to shop online more?
●	Has the current economic climate impacted Irish consumers’ shopping habits? – Have the increased costs of living seen higher or lower purchasing online? Are Irish consumers still looking at products in-store before purchasing online to save money? 

Other Mintel reports of relevance include:

●	Digital Trends Spring – UK, March 2014
●	Grocery Retailing – Ireland, December 2013
●	Irish Lifestyles – Ireland, September 2013
●	Fashion Online – UK, August 2013
●	Online and Mobile Retailing – Ireland, March 2013
●	Marketing to Young Families – Ireland, December 2012.

Definition
This report will examine the online and mobile retailing industry in Ireland through exploring the issues that are fuelling, or affecting its growth. Online and mobile retailing is concerned with consumers ordering and giving payment for goods and services through entirely online channels and internet-enabled mobile devices, such as smartphones. This includes items bought online for in-store collection, so-called ‘click and collect’ and the purchase of intangible products, such as holidays for example.

As such, this report will examine three main types of retailer: 

●	Pure-play retailers are those that trade exclusively online, with amazon.co.uk and play.com examples of such retailers. Under ONS (Office for National Statistics) classifications in the UK, these retailers are categorised at ‘mail order’ retailers.
●	Multichannel retailers are retailers that trade through online and mobile media as well as physical stores. Supermarkets provide an example of retailers that utilise such an approach. 
●	High street and store-based retailers are those that trade exclusively through physical locations.

This report will consider ‘traditional’ retailing from a competitor perspective and discuss the impact that contactless payment technology and consumers researching goods and services online but preferring to purchase in-store is having on the online and mobile retailing sector. 

The Market Size and Forecast section of this report examines the value of retail sales in Ireland that occur online and through internet-enabled mobile devices (eg smartphones, tablet computers) only. Segmentation data have not been provided due to the unavailability of category-specific sales data for Ireland. 

Categories covered in the market size include fashion, grocery, travel (flights and hotels), books, entertainment (cinema tickets, concert tickets, sports tickets), music downloads, games (downloads and hard copies), beauty and personal care items, electronics (household appliance, games console) and movie streaming (Netflix). 

Data sources
For the purpose of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive online research into the frequency with which Irish consumers shop online and through mobile channels, what goods and services they purchase through them and their attitudes towards online and mobile retailing. The research was carried out by Toluna on behalf of Mintel in March 2014.

A total of 750 internet users aged 16+ in NI and 1,250 internet users aged 16+ in RoI were asked the following questions:

“How frequently do you buy something over the internet?”

“Which, if any, of the following have you purchased over the internet in the past 12 months?”

“Thinking about shopping online, which, if any, of the following do you agree with? Please select all that apply.”

The results from this survey are discussed in The Consumer sections of this report. 

Mintel also draws consumer insight from other sources:

●	Mintel’s Inspire database and previous Mintel reports from the UK and Ireland.

In compiling this report, Mintel has gathered data from separate NI and RoI sources (eg NISRA – Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and CSO – Central Statistics Office). In some cases, therefore, it has not been possible to provide comparable data for each region.

For the purpose of this report:

●	IoI refers to the island of Ireland.
●	NI refers to Northern Ireland.
●	RoI refers to the Republic of Ireland.

Therefore, ‘Irish consumers’ refers to both NI and RoI consumers.

Abbreviations
ASOS	As Seen On Screen	
CD	Compact Disc	
CSO	Central Statistics Office	
DVD	Digital Versatile Disc	
EE	Everything Everywhere	
EU	European Union	
FMCG	Fast Moving Consumer Goods	
GPS	Global Positioning System	
HTC	High-Tech Computer Corporation	
IAB	Internet Advertising Bureau	
IoI	Island of Ireland	
NI	Northern Ireland	
NISRA	Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency	
Ofcom	Office of Communications	
ONS	Office for National Statistics	
Plc	Private Limited Company	
QR	Quick Response	
RoI	Republic of Ireland	
UK	United Kingdom	
US	United States of America	
VAT	Value Added Tax