Almost half of all online purchases made in Ireland last year were through a mobile device – the second-highest rate in Europe after the UK – amid an internet shopping boom fueled by Covid restrictions on bricks-and-mortar shops.
obile purchases accounted for 45.2pc of online sales in 2021, according to Europe-wide research conducted by Conjura, a Dublin-based data analytics platform for the e-commerce industry, in partnership with research brand RetailX.
The UK had the highest share of online shopping carried out by mobile, at 54.5pc, the 2022 Europe Ecommerce Region Report found.
The percentage of internet users that shopped online in Ireland last year increased from 68pc to 70pc. That figure, though, was still well below the UK level of 81pc.
More than 19pc of all retail sales in Ireland took place online, the fourth-highest online split of revenue of the 34 European countries analyzed for the report. This compares to 31.8pc in the UK, 8.4pc in Portugal, and just 3.7pc in Serbia.
Despite the increase in online shopping during Covid, European e-commerce businesses are facing significant challenges, such as slower economic growth, surging inflation, the energy crisis, and supply chain obstacles, Conjura warned.
Ballooning costs and a shortage of material and shipping containers are leading to higher prices that are being passed onto online shoppers, said Conjura founder Fran Quilty.