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Irish shoppers spend £2.6 billion online in 2010

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 11:27 by Mike Price

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Consumers in Ireland spent close to £2.6 billion, the equivalent of almost three billion Euros, while carrying out safe shopping online during the course of 2010, according to the latest figures from payment card firm, Visa.

E-commerce sales were up in Ireland by almost 40 per cent when compared with 2009, with a typical Irish consumer shelling out about £1360 via online retailers. This is not quite as strong as the performance of two years previously, before the economic slowdown took its toll, but it does suggest that the recovery is beginning to build momentum.

It was discovered that men are more likely to spend greater amounts through sites offering safe shopping online than women and the majority of the cash was splashed on more expensive things like holidays.

Fashion and footware performed well in the Irish e-commerce market last year, mirroring similar increases in business which were enjoyed by UK sites.

According to a report in the Irish Times, there is a growing understanding of e-commerce amongst the general public and people are getting better at choosing the most secure, trusted places to shop, over the potentially fraudulent sites which clutter the net.

On average, consumers were able to save up to 30 per cent by shopping online rather than on the high street or from catalogues. The expansion of e-commerce in Ireland is being fuelled by the added convenience of getting deliveries direct to your door and not having to trudge from shop to shop looking for a bargain on the high street.

Visa's Conor Langford, said that both budget and ease of use was making it much more common for Irish consumers to head to their computers and enact a bit of retail therapy, with 2010 proving to have been a positive year for e-commerce firms.