Online, ecommerce and digital representative body, Digital Business Ireland has called for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme to be expanded in order to help grow Ireland's e-commerce sector.
The organisation said this could be done by allowing those businesses that never availed of funding under this scheme to be able to do so - for digital marketing purposes and building consumer trust.
In its current form, applicants for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme are only eligible if they have little to no online presence.
The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) scheme currently allows businesses to develop their digital footprint, through the establishment of a website, with grants of up to €2,500.
"Government's National Digital Strategy must develop with the needs and requirements of businesses that have already made the transition to online, and who are now looking to expand their reach through the use of digital marketing tools, or investment in trust technology to make their offer to its target segment more competitive in the international market," said Ashley McDonnell, Chair of DBI.
"By increasing opportunities for e-tailers in Ireland to reach new consumers, this will have wide-reaching benefits for the Exchequer, and at DBI we firmly believe that an expansion of the remit of the scheme should be seriously considered, in order to enable and empower businesses to thrive in the digital marketplace," she said.
