83% of Irish consumers buy online from UK retailers

The majority of consumers in Ireland also turn to the United Kingdom for online shopping. The fact that the ecommerce industry in the UK offers more choice, is the main advantage to shopping from the UK, nearly half of those who shop with UK retailers say.

This is one of the conclusions from a survey [pdf], conducted by Allies Computing, which offers postcode lookup solutions. The company also analyzed the level in which Irish consumers are familiar with Eircode.

Eircode

Eircode is a national postcode system that was introduced in Ireland in 2015. It gives every residence in the country a unique 7-character code. And that’s quite handy, as there are up to 600,000 addresses in Ireland that are non-unique and thus present a challenged to logistics companies. The survey by Allies shows that nearly 70 percent of online shoppers in Ireland know their Eircode, with 4 out of 10 using it regularly.

But as Dan Cooper, Allies CEO, explains: “Eircode is more than just an Irish concern. Online retailers – both UK and Irish ones – need to be ready to capture Eircodes as part of their checkout process. Doing so is likely to appeal to potential customers and also result in fewer delivery issues and subsequent returns.”

Delivery problems in Ireland

Because for many online shoppers in Ireland, their house is hard to find without an Eircode. That mat also explain why about 30 percent of respondents reported problems with one or more deliveries in the last twelve months. One in eight shoppers even stated that the courier couldn’t find their address.

As said, the wide choice of products is the main reason for Irish consumers to shop online in the UK, but cheaper prices are also a key incentive. However, those price savings are offset by the cost of delivery, which is the main disadvantage of shopping from UK ecommerce websites.