By Alan Coleman on 23 Aug 2012
Why Irish retailers need E-Commerce and Adwords 
There was 2 big stories in the last week. After what seemed like an eternity from the end of the Olympics, finally the Premier League returned and in the world of online retail Amazon announced a new service in the UK whereby they will deliver goods to corner shops and busy workers, who have no other method of receiving goods, can pick them up at their convenience. Not only this they can order clothes in multiple sizes, try them on and return the sizes that do not fit. The first thing that came to mind was what this means for the normal high street retailer. Even the high street retailer that thinks that Amazon are not the competition. Here’s a little wake up call. Amazon are and they are coming for you. Amazon are the world’s largest online retailer and by linking up with corner shops Amazon are making a move against high street retailers and the offline market. They want your customers. Off-line retailers with no online presence need to adapt to the new retail environment. More and more Irish consumers are moving online to make their purchase. Research by AMAS demonstrates this as 43% of Irish consumers made an online purchase in 2011 versus 36% in 2010.
Further, those retailers that have moved online need to get active and promote their services and products. Amazon are a global force and as such even if you are selling online you still need to get in front of the consumer. For both the above scenarios the best means of getting in front of possible customers is through paid advertising (pay per click). This allows you to get in front of potential customers as they actively search for your products. And when it comes to pay per click there is only one place to turn to - Google Adwords. In the UK Google have a 90% market share and Ireland is the same. Google adwords is the Premier League of paid advertising and if Irish retailers get active then they will have the chance to compete with the Manchester Uniteds of e-commerce. For more information on Wolfgang Digital’s Google Adwords service, click here.
