Retail Excellence, the largest retail representative body in Ireland, has launched the Irish eCommerce Trustmark, an initiative aimed at Irish retailers entering the online market for the first time. Irish retailers can now avail of funding from their local enterprise offices to obtain the eCommerce Trustmark.

According to Retail Excellence, there has been a 36% Year on Year increase in online sales through desktop and mobile devices when compared to June in 2016.

The Irish Trustmark has been designed to help Irish traders address challenges in entering the European online market. Working in partnership with eCommerce Europe, Retail Excellence has launched the Irish eCommerce Trustmark. This is already an established European-wide initiative and is designed to provide confidence to purchasers throughout the Member States whilst shopping online.

The overall impact of this has led to retailers reporting an increase in trading volumes by 26%. The Trustmark initiative also includes an International Handling Procedure available to both consumers and retailers which safeguards both party’s rights.

According to Retail Excellence, there has been a 36% Year on Year increase in online sales through desktop and mobile devices when compared to June in 2016. The combined figure is constituted by 22% in sales across desktop devices and 14% on mobile handsets.

Lorraine Higgins of Retail Excellence stated “Over the course of 2017, European consumers will purchase €598billion online but Irish retailers face significant challenges selling in Europe as consumers in other countries may not be familiar with an Irish brand and so maybe wary of purchasing on that website.

The Trustmark helps to bridge this trust issue by increasing consumer confidence that they are buying from a legitimate website which is compliant with the latest Irish and EU legislation and satisfies legal audits conducted by our partner legal advisors, Maples.”

“Therefore, displaying a Trustmark logo on your website will increase sales by 26% because research suggests two-thirds of consumers in the EU prefer to use a website backed by a recognised Trustmark before completing an international purchase. With the advent of Brexit and all the uncertainty it brings, it is important that Irish retailers look beyond traditional markets and seek out new ones and any mechanism that makes this easier has to be welcomed,” Ms Higgins stated.

Retail Excellence have partnered with the Local Enterprise Offices to offer the Trustmark. A number of prominent Irish retailers throughout the country have already availed of the Trustmark. Anyone wishing to find out more or to apply for the opportunity are advised to contact their Local Enterprise Office.

The post Trading Online Voucher applicants are now eligible for funding for the Retail Excellence eCommerce Trustmark appeared first on Agent.