A survey of social features on 100 eCommerce websites is the main feature of the Summer 2011 issue of State of the Net. It also covers trends in internet use, broadband and social media in Ireland as well as new research by Google on Irish businesses online.

1. State of the Net
essential eBusiness intelligence for Irish managers www.amas.ie
A quarterly bulletin on online activity in Ireland ISSN: 1649 issue 21 Summer 2011
Research: how sociable is Irish eCommerce?
as locally, social media is The ten criteria included a For full details of the research,
changing consumer internet number of sharing features, including details of the scoring
and purchasing behaviour. through Facebook, Twitter and for each of the sites are
Site users will click on a email. They tended to be the published on the AMAS website.
Facebook follow or link, or most popular social features www.amas.ie/research
share a special offer or other among the eCommerce sites
content on an eCommerce reviewed. Less popular, and
site with friends through email used only by the top Social features on
and sharing content through scoring eCommerce sites
social media sites.
10 0
Left-hand axis – number of
The inclusion of some social
social features in use by the
media features on eCommerce 1
9 eCommerce sites analysed
sites has several advantages,
Aileen O’Toole, not least the integration of Right-hand axis –
Managing Director, social media marketing 8 1 number of sites which
s
re
AMAS activity with on-site content had the number of
tu
and promotions. However, 7 2 social features
Nu
fea
our research highlighted
m
l
© AMAS graphic
cia
Many companies selling that some online
be
6 +1 = 4 (www.amas.ie)
so
ro
online in Ireland are not brands which have
of
fs
embedding social features active Facebook No sites
ite
+9 =
er
into their websites, despite and Twitter 5 11
mb
s
strong evidence that accounts
Nu
such features can boost do not 4 +17 = 20
eCommerce revenues promote
and improve consumer their social
loyalty. AMAS reviewed media
3 +10 = 13
100 transactional sites and presence
scored each against ten on their 2 +14 = 17
separate social criteria. eCom-
merce 1 +6 = 11
Amazon is Ireland’s most sites.
sociable site with a score
of nine, followed by HMV
0 +16 = 20
which scored eight and then
CD Wow and Littlewoods Source: AMAS review of 100
which jointly hold third place What did we10 score and 0 sites, were the publication of websites, May 2011. Each site
with scores of seven. The why? The list of 100 sites customer images of products, was evaluated on ten criteria.
best-ranked Irish website was was drawn up by AMAS to
9 1 customer tags and displaying
sports retailer Elverys, which reflect the main commercial what other site visitors have 10 criteria
scored six as did Pixmania, sectors 8and sites which, in 1 bought or viewed.
es
eBay and Dabs.ie. our view, had built up Facebook like, follow or share
ur
7 2 It must be recognised that some
at
awareness and use among Twitter tweet or follow
Nu
fe
m
A fifth had no social media Irish consumers. Sites where sites may have elected not to
l
Email to a friend
cia
be
features at all on their sites, it 6 possible to transact +1 =
is 4
implement across all ten criteria
so
ro
Share and follow links
of
fs
including some big guns business – be it buying and perhaps No sites
focus their efforts
ite
+9 = on 11 ones that are likely to
er
5 Product reviews by customers
such as Ryanair, Tesco and an airline ticket, paying for the
mb
s
Wish list or registry
Nu
UPC. A further 42% had just 4 an insurance product or +17 = 20 most benefits. Some
deliver the
between one and three of other goods or services – or indeed all of the 11 retailers What others are viewing or bought
the ten social features 3 that were included. Where +10 =got 13
who scores of five each Facebook store
were scored. possible among multinational may be happy with that and
2 players, AMAS assessed +14 = value in including
perceive no17 Customer tags
Internationally, as well their localised Irish sites. some of the other features. Customer images of product
1 +6 = 11
0 +16 = 20
Compiled by AMAS in association with the Irish Internet Association

2. 1. Internet Sm
artp
hone
Tablet More time is being spent by Irish
consumers online, to such an
use
2% Ho
extent that it is causing huge
7%
me
shifts in media behaviour. New
C
PC
kP
research shows that typically
/
Time spent online, Wor as much time is being spent
Lapto
by internet access 16% every day online as watching
TV, the result of greater internet
p
device
use driven largely by the growth
in social media. However, as
75% market researcher REDC argues,
one medium is not necessarily
Average time spent on media per day replacing another – online
Paid for
search media consumption often
complements other media.
TV 2hrs 49m
More of the time people are
spending on the internet is via
Online 2hrs 44m a smartphone. The current level
© AMAS graphic of 7% is predicted by REDC to
(www.amas.ie) grow to 10-12% within a year. So
Radio 2hrs what are people doing online?
Source: REDC Most popular daily activities are
De-coding digital reading and watching the news
Print 0hrs 37m trends in Ireland (55% of the sample), followed by
2011, Online browsing postings (32%), posting
survey of 500 messages (24%) and watching
© AMAS graphic (www.amas.ie)
adults aged 18+ movies, video or TV online (19%).
2. Broadband
Demand for broadband and online
services continues to remain strong,
despite the slump in Irish consumer
spending. Over the course of 2010,
more than 140,000 new broadband
subscriptions were logged by ComReg, Broadband growth
bringing the grand total to 1.59 million. 1,700,000
1,591,803
The latest statistics, for the final quarter of
1,600,000 1,518,349
2010, show that cable eclipsed mobile to
show the strongest growth levels across 1,500,000 1,548,625
all broadband platforms – cable grew 1,509,934
by 34% over the course of the year to 1,400,000 1,443,350
1,305,035
203,000, compared with mobile’s 1,300,000 1,272,166
increase of 27% to 572,000. 1,200,255 1,361,254
1,200,000 1,125,000
Ireland continues to lag behind the
EU in terms of broadband penetration 1,100,000
1,055,000 © AMAS graphic (www.amas.ie)
992,000
rates. The latest Eurostat figures put 1,000,000
the EU27 average at 25.6% but Ireland
comes in at 22.9% while UK is 30.6%.
Q1 08 Q2 08 Q3 08 Q4 08 Q1 09 Q2 09 Q3 09 Q4 09 Q1 10 Q2 10 Q3 10 Q4 10
The Government’s rural broadband
scheme is designed to help close this
gap and deliver universal broadband Source: ComReg Irish Communications Market: Key Data Report - Q4 2010.
access by the end of 2012. Graph shows broadband subscriptions across all platforms.

3. Top Trends
3. eCommerce Bought or ordered goods services online by category %
© AMAS graphic
(www.amas.ie)
Any goods Travel & holiday Clothes & Books, magazines Household Tickets Music Electronic
or services accommodation sports goods & e-learning goods for events & Film equipment
EU 27 40 21 19 15 14 14 13 10
UK 67 37 35 28 29 24 32 17
Ireland 36 28 13 12 6 22 10 10
Source: Eurostat, 2010, respondents asked if they have bought or ordered goods or services for their own use over the past 12 months
Maybe it’s the recession. Or Irish consumers, from 21% to Separately, Visa Europe has put primary consumer motivation
maybe it’s our relatively low 28% over the 2 year period. a value on Irish eCommerce for buying online, with half of the
online adoption levels in Ireland The same is true for tickets, activity of €2.96 billion in 2010, an 1,000 survey respondents stating
compared with the UK and which has increased from 12% increase of 39% on the previous that they believe eCommerce
other EU markets. Either way, to 22%. In both categories, year, based on research from can achieve savings of
the number of Irish consumers Ireland is ahead of the EU iReach. Value for money was the between 11% and 30%.
who bought or ordered goods average but still lagging23%
80%
or services online is stuck at behind the UK. 79 78 © AMAS graphic (www.amas.ie) EU 27
36%, the same level as two 70% 74
70 UK
years ago. By comparison, Incidences of online 60%
online ordering or buying purchasing in Ireland lagged 58 Ireland
55
among UK consumers grew behind other markets 50%
50 52
49
from 57% to 67% over the same across all age groups, with 40% 45
period while the EU27 average the differences between 38
40
went from 32% to 40%. Ireland and the UK most 30% 33 32
27
pronounced in 45+ age 20%
Some interesting trends brackets. For instance, 58% of 18
10% 14
emerge when categories UK consumers aged between 8
are analysed. For travel and 55 and 64 had bought online, 0%
hotel accommodation, there compared with only 18% for 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74
has been significant growth Irish consumers in the same Bought or ordered goods or services online in the past 12 months by age
in online purchasing among age group. Source: As above
4. Social media
Number of
Ireland account Ireland
holders
471,000 1.94m The numbers of Facebook of active users, due to multiple
and LinkedIn users in Ireland or dormant accounts.
keep getting bigger. Facebook
USA Other USA Other has 1.94 million Irish accounts, A third of Irish account holders
47.1m 36.3m 155m 288m almost five times what it had say they are aged 35 or older.
in January 2009. However, the The number of Irish LinkedIn
India UK © AMAS graphic
India UK number of Facebook accounts accounts is also growing and is
9.7m 6.4m (www.amas.ie) 25.7m 29.8m is not the same as the number within a whisker of half a million.
Wo ion Wo ion
rl d w i d e 1 0 0 m ill rl d w i d e 5 0 0 m ill Source: Facebook and LinkedIn, May 2011
the opportunity to win online

4. Digital media mix 2010: Ireland vs UK
5. Digital Display 31% 25% Classified
23% Display
advertising © AMAS graphic
(www.amas.ie) 18% Classified
Ireland UK
1% Other
From paid search and online classifieds to €110m £4.097bn
ads on games and website sponsorships,
digital advertising continues to win favour
with advertisers keen to extract maximum
value for their hard-earned budgets. The 57%
availability of better research is also giving 44% Paid for
search
advertisers and their media planners the Paid for
Source: 2010 search Source: IAB
ammunition and the confidence to switch
IAB/UK Ireland UK/ PwC Online
from traditional to digital channels.
PwC Adspend AdSpend Study 2010
Study, survey of 26 online properties, Adds to 99% due
The IAB Ireland/PwC research uses an advertising networks and sales houses to rounding
internationally accepted methodology to
assess the scale of the Irish digital advertising
market. It puts a value of €110 million on the Irish
digital advertising market in 2010, a 13.5% increase Equivalent research in the UK digital marketplace. Valued at
on the previous year when the overall advertising shows the extent of the opportunity slightly more than £4 billion, the UK
market is reckoned to have contracted by at least for digital publishers, giants like market commanded a 25% share of
7%. Digital is now estimated to equate to about a Google and MSN and a host of the advertising market, up from 23%
15% share of the total Irish advertising market. other players in growing the Irish the previous year.
Most used smartphone apps
6. Mobile
© AMAS graphic (www.amas.ie)
App Reach User profile
Social networking 56% • Strong female bias Smartphone penetration in Ireland is currently
at 37%, with strong adoption among males
• Higher among 15-24s (45%) compared with females (29%),
Maps/travel 41% • Stronger male bias according to new research from Amárach.
Smartphones are most popular among 25
• Higher among 35-44s to 34-year-olds, where the penetration level
News 37% • Stronger male bias is 53%. On average, a smartphone owner
downloads 4.8 apps per month and, as the
• Higher among 25-34s table shows, social networking apps are the
most used.
Music 34% • Stronger male bias
• Higher among 15-34s Amárach is predicting that the acceleration
in smartphone use will stimulate demand for
Gaming 28% • Slight male bias mobile commerce in Ireland - and forecasts
• Higher among 15-34s that €800 million worth of transactions will be
conducted through mobile devices in 2012.
Already mobile commerce has taken off
Source: Amárach Research, The Smart Future, online survey of 844 internationally, and often for some unlikely
Irish mobile phone users in May 2011, including 311 smartphone users product categories.
www.amas.ie

5. Top Trends
7. Businesses online Website
Channel adoption levels %
60
More solid evidence that online adoption levels Online business directory 42
are low among Irish SMEs. On this occasion,
though, the research has a positive sting in its None of these 26
tail, in the shape of an impressive initiative Page in social network 19
designed to transform how small businesses
and sole traders use the internet. Blog 6
© AMAS graphic (www.amas.ie)
Do not have internet 3
Google commissioned Ipsos MORI
to establish the online status of
a statistically representative 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
sample of Irish SMEs, defined as Source: Google SME Insights Ireland, Conducted by Ipsos MORI via telephone in
companies with fewer than 50 November 2010, 821 companies surveyed which were representative of
employees. The results are stark commercial Irish SMEs based on employee size and sector
– 40% don’t have a website, 58%
don’t have an entry in an online
directory and 81% don’t have a Cost is another issue: 17% believe Irish SMEs. It is a partnership between
page on a social network site. websites are too expensive, while Google, Blacknight Solutions, An Post
33% have concerns about the time and the City and County Enterprise
Why no website? 57% of those who don’t have involved in maintaining websites. Boards, and aims to take some of the
websites said they have never considered having mystique out of the internet for many
one but a further 23% indicated that they were in The research was commissioned small businesses. The ambition is to
the process of establishing one. A fifth of the same ahead of the launch of Getting Irish get 25,000 more Irish SMEs and sole
group are unconvinced of the benefits in terms of Business Online, an initiative which traders online in year one.
communicating with customers or increasing sales. offers free websites and hosting to Visit www.GettingBusinessOnline.ie
Tax credits to tackle digital skills shortages
programme to incentivise Proposals for a so-called a dialogue between the
the digitally skilled to take “nerd visa” don’t go far developers and consumers
up positions in Ireland. We enough. It is not a question of technology.
have counselled the opinion of managing those who can
of leading international and come to work in Ireland but We are continuing to keep
indigenous businesses and rather a question of stemming apace with the demand
leading economist Constantin the flow of emigration of for the Diploma in Digital
Gurdgiev, and all have “smart skills” and incentivising Marketing, reviewing the
Joan Mulvihill unanimously endorsed the positive repatriation of those curriculum constantly to reflect
CEO, Irish Internet Association proposal and are committed who have left. the pace of change. We
to supporting it. have moved the NetVisionary
The skills shortage is the ‘Open data’ policy Awards to September
greatest impediment to For our digital economy to At the IIA we also recognise and have reviewed the
business growth in Ireland’s continue to flourish we need the importance of an “open categories to reflect the
digital sector right now, and to build a reservoir of talent. data” policy to support newcomers to our sector.
we need to reach a critical People follow jobs but the our start-up community, by
mass in these skills right across job creators set up camp giving them access to this On 14-15 October we will be
the sector, from developers where they have a deep invaluable raw material. co-hosting “Internet Expo” in
and designers to digital well of talent from which to Open data will also boost the RDS, Ireland’s first trade
marketers and SEO specialists. draw. With so many other eGovernment initiatives exhibition and conference
countries competing for and services to citizens. dedicated to internet business
The Irish Internet Association the mantle of the smartest For this year’s “Open For across a wide range of sectors,
has made a submission to economy, we need to be Business” conference at from animation and gaming
government requesting smart about how we attract the Aviva Stadium we took to eLearning. Visit www.iia.ie
a digital skills tax credit people to work here. the term literally, facilitating for more details.

6. Deals explosion brings mixed blessings for businesses
It’s phenomenal It’s hard to miss implications for the businesses Deals sites trumpet how
- the explosive this phenomenon. that provide their deals. they deliver new customers,
growth in Online ads for these The upside for businesses is leading to repeat business. But
discount sites promise high-profile exposure and many traders fear that deals
coupon, deal large discounts - an opportunity to attract are cannibalising existing
and group typically 50% to 60% new customers and stem business, as customers hold
-buying sites. - on meals, health falling sales. off spending in expectation of
Deals sites have and beauty
taken Ireland by treatments,
storm over the gadgets, tickets
past year. and all sorts
of consumer
There are desirables.
now at least
25 operating Fiachra Ó Marcaigh Clout Downside a deal coming up soon, and
here, with Director, AMAS A survey by media On the downside, the business some complain that repeat
new market agency Carat will be selling the promoted business does not materialise.
entrants regularly appearing. found high levels (up to half deal at a level that is often
Facebook Deals has beta- of those surveyed) were unprofitable when the Businesses also worry that
launched already in Ireland, aware of, had signed up or discount and commission to deals devalue their offerings,
and Google is piloting Offers purchased from each of the the deals site are deducted. It if consumers decide that the
in the US, so expect online three largest sites, City Deal, is vital for the business to scope deal price is the real price.
deals to continue to boom. Living Social and Boards the offer carefully or it may be
Deals. The purchase rates overwhelmed with demand for So businesses need to weigh
The larger sites are transacting reported were very high - the cut-price deal. their options and be smart.
serious amounts of business 17%, 6% and 5% respectively. As their own consumers are
in Ireland as recession- Businesses may have to wait advised, they need to shop
hit consumers search for With these levels, the deals for the cash as some deals around, choose carefully,
bargains and this is affecting sites have massive market- sites do not pay up until drive a hard bargain and see
the dynamics of some place clout, which can the consumer redeems where deals fit best with their
business sectors. have positive and negative the coupon. business models.
eCommerce excellence eligible for consideration
AMAS: what we do We cut through the clutter
is to be recognised later this for the overall eCommerce and the complexity to allow
year in a new award scheme Website of the Year award. The AMAS is an internet consultancy our clients to capitalise on
and quality mark launched winner will receive a marketing with a simple goal – help our the unlimited opportunities
by Retail Excellence Ireland package worth €20,000 from clients to exploit the internet. offered by the internet.
(REI) with sponsorship from Independent Newspapers. Large corporates, government
Google. REI is extending bodies and, increasingly, high-
Services:
its long-established retail AMAS has been selected potential businesses retain us to
• Strategy
awards to include by REI to conduct develop and help implement
reviews of the sites as internet strategies. • Research
eCommerce,
and businesses part of a three-stage • User experience
meeting the evaluation process. Contact Us: • Content
required standard AMAS has designed Aileen O’Toole, • Training
will be eligible to this process to Managing Director on • Marketing
use a new quality complement the +353 1 6610499 or info@amas.ie • Project management
mark on their sites. one used for REI’s traditional
retail award scheme, as
There will be three category well as checkpoints in Follow us:
winners, for best customer eCommerce best practice. For digital research and insights,
experience, innovation and Visit AMAS’s blog for more follow AMAS on Twitter@AMASinternet
exporting, who will then be details www.amas.ie/blog.
© AMAS Ltd.
Published by AMAS Ltd., 38 Lr. Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Tel: +353 1 6610499
Email: info@amas.ie Web: www.amas.ie