A new €625,000 scheme is being introduced by the Department of Business to help Irish retailers bulk-up their online presence, according to Newstalk.
The pilot, the Online Retail Competitive Scheme, is aimed at Irish SMEs in the retail sector to better equip them to compete internationally, and will be delivered by Enterprise Ireland.
The news was announced by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys, who was speaking at a meeting of the Retail Consultation Forum.
"Many retailers face increasing international competition on their doorstep and need to enhance their competitiveness,” she said at the event.
"I want to acknowledge the support of the Retail Forum members over the past two years in clearly articulating the needs of the retail sector so that we can put in place an initial response to some of the challenges Irish-owned retailers are facing to maintain and grow their market share."
SME Applicants
The scheme will offer grants to SMEs of between €10,000 to €25,000 on a match fund basis, in the hopes that they will become more competitive online and increase their customer base.
At least half of the grants awarded will be reserved for businesses headquartered outside of the capital.
In order to receive the grant, applicants must be Irish-owned, small- or medium-sized and have an already existing online presence - be it a website or just social media - with a retail outlet employing at least 20 full-time staff.
Applications can include research, strategy development, implementation and training, and it will open at the end of October.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
