Omnichannel future: Experts from Bank of Ireland, Google, Shopify and the E-commerce Association of Ireland on why Irish businesses need to embrace omnichannel.
Ominchannel – where bricks meet clicks – represents a new dawn for retailers keen to serve both traditional shoppers and consumers who wish to buy online and have goods delivered or click and collect.
In the lead up to Christmas, retailers who hadn’t taken the plunge into online or e-commerce were in a rush to go online. Many, who were responding to the challenges posed by Covid-19 had already transformed their business models. But there were many who hadn’t.
And while many bricks and mortar retailers enjoyed a pre-Christmas surge in the final weeks of December, the bitter realities of another lockdown and an uncertain economy affected by business closures and unemployment are sure to be felt.
The omnichannel future of retail
In the coming weeks ThinkBusiness will focus a series of articles on the omnichannel future of retail including how to go online and sell as well as case studies of businesses that have adapted, including SMEs that have successfully received funding as part of the Government’s Online Voucher Scheme.
An estimated 60pc of all online commerce conducted by Irish people leaves these shores direct into the coffers of global giants. Before Christmas there was a surge of support to buy Irish online out of a public recognition that shopping locally online saves businesses and jobs.
To get the message out to SMEs, Bank of Ireland collaborated with online shopping platform Shopify as well as Pointy, the Irish platform recently acquired by Google that helps shoppers find via the internet the products they need in your physical store, and the E-commerce Association of Ireland (eCAI), to highlight the opportunities that exist online.
ThinkBusiness editor John Kennedy spoke with Owen Clifford, head of Retail Sector at Bank of Ireland, Pointy product marketing manager Caroline Brady, Eamon Brett from Shopify and Niall Bodkin, managing director of the eCAI/ClickIrish.
By John Kennedy (john.kennedy3@boi.com)
Published: 5 January 2021
