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Here's your top questions answered about this Government scheme, run through Local Enteprise Offices: 

Why was the Online Trading Voucher introduced?

The Online Trading Voucher was introduced for two main reasons:

1. While online spending is forecast to double, almost 50,000 Irish businesses do not have an online presence

Ireland is turning into a nation of online shoppers. The value of Ireland’s online consumer spending is forecast to rise from €6 billion currently to €13 billion by 2020.  Huge potential exists for Irish businesses to grow online, both at home and overseas. However, it is estimated that about 47,000 or one in five Irish businesses currently do not have an online presence.

2. Research shows that companies with a strong online presence grow twice as fast, export twice as much and employ twice as many people

For Ireland, this level of penetration is simply not good enough. We need to create a more supportive environment which encourages those businesses that are ready to trade online to do so. Research for the European Commission suggests that companies which develop a meaningful online trading presence grow twice as fast, export twice as much and employ twice as many people. The Trading Online Voucher Scheme is a key initiative to get more small Irish businesses trading online as quickly as possible and to highlight the importance of online trading to business.

What does the Online Voucher do?

The Government is rolling out a €5 million Trading Online Voucher Scheme to enable 2,000 small businesses to embrace the digital economy and increase sales, exports and ultimately jobs.  Under the scheme, vouchers of up to €2,500 (matched by business own investment) will be available to small businesses who demonstrate that they have a credible plan to get trading online.

The vouchers can be used to pay for things such as:

• IT consultation
• development or upgrade of an e-commerce website
• implementing online payments or booking systems
• the purchase of Internet related software.

Application for a voucher is made through a Local Enterprise Office. Vouchers are awarded on a competitive basis and a number of information events have been held around the country to assist applicants and highlight the importance of online trading. Find your Local Enterprise Office here.

What are the results of the Scheme so far?

The scheme was initially piloted in the Dublin City area where 50 small companies received vouchers. Initial survey responses from 20 of these companies shows promise:  

• 7 out of 10 companies said that the voucher application process helped them in determining how online trading would fit into their business.
• 45% said participating in the programme had helped make their company more efficient.
• 70% of companies are getting more customer inquiries.
• 55% have had or are expecting more sales as a result.
• Most companies are primarily trading domestically, but export expectations have increased with business expecting to get 30% of sales from export markets within 6 months.  
• UK is by far the most important export market initially.
• Business owners and staff are devoting more time to trading online.
• 60% expect they will need to recruit within 12 months – of these companies the average expectation was a need to recruit 1.5 staff.

Following the success of the pilot, over 1,000 Trading Online Vouchers were made in 2014 spanning all the 31 Local Enterprise Offices. The full roll-out of 2,000 Vouchers will continue in 2015.

Useful stats

• €21.1 billion: Projected Value of the Irish Internet Economy in 2020 (UPC Report)

•  €12.7 billion: Projected Online Consumer Spending in 2020(UPC Report)

• €5.9 billion: Online Consumer Spending in 2014 (UPC Report)

• Research published as part of the National Digital Strategy indicated that digital contributed 4.4% to Ireland’s GDP in 2012 and is supporting up to 95,000 jobs.The digital part of the economy in Ireland is growing at 16% per year - that is around 5 times the rate of growth of the rest of the economy

• European Commission research suggests that companies which develop a meaningful online trading presence grow twice as fast, export twice as much and employ twice as many people

• 150,000 projected direct and indirect jobs expected to be created by the Digital Economy in Ireland in 2020 UPC Report)

The Online Trading Voucher is one of seven disruptive reforms in the Action Plan for Jobs. Find out more about the Action Plan for Jobs here.