Irish consumers' online spending on food soared by almost a quarter last year to nearly €140 million, reports the Sunday Independent.
According to a new report by online business body Ecommerce Europe, the figure far surpasses overall online spending growth in Ireland at 18%.
Speaking at an Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) event on 29 September, Ecommerce Europe policy advisor Luca Cassetti said, "Food will be the future of ecommerce."
"As online food sales are on the rise, Irish food companies increasingly team up with internet sellers. Glanbia has partnered with Amazon to sell its products via Amazon Dash, which enables customers to order online with the click of a button. Kerry Group chief executive Stan McCarthy said his company was "engaged with many different companies that are exploring channels outside of the traditional retail channels."
Media and Entertainment was the fastest-growing category for Irish online spend last year, at 34.9%, followed by Home & Garden products, where spending products grew 34.1%.
However, the most popular category was clothing, on which €560 million was spent online last year, nearly twice as much as the figure posted by media and entertainment in second place. Third most popular was information technology at €280 million.
© 2016 - Checkout Magazine by Miyuki Nakano
