Good practice:

Trading Online Voucher Scheme

Even though there is currently an increasing trend in online spending, it is estimated that only 23% of small Irish businesses use e-commerce in any meaningful way; and that of all the online purchases made in Ireland, 70% are related to purchases from overseas markets.
There is therefore a need to encourage small Irish businesses to develop their digital presence to avoid missing significant commercial opportunities. To this end, the Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment (DCCAE) has launched an Trading Online Voucher Scheme and has teamed up with with Local Enterprise Offices to deliver this Scheme to Irish businesses at local level.
The scheme was launched in 2014 and operated on a 50%/50% support basis until 2020 when as a result of the Covid Pandemic the rate of aid was change to 90%/10% which accelerated the level of interest and applications in the scheme.
The Trading Online Voucher Scheme offers small businesses the opportunity to develop their website or digital marketing strategy by availing of vouchers of up to €2,500 or up to 90% of eligible expenditure (net of VAT).
• The vouchers are targeted at businesses with the following profile:
• Limited Online Trading presence;
• 10 or less employees;
• Turnover less than €2m;
• Applicant business must be trading for at least 6 months;
• Business must be located in the area covered by this phase of the scheme i.e. within the remit of the participating LEOs.

Each Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is given a financial allocation per voucher for the scheme and a small Admin Budget. The LEO must put in place the resources to manage the scheme locally in terms of staffing.

Though the scheme existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, applications for vouchers have gone through the roof this year. In the past 6 months the government expanded the scheme, making more tens of millions in funding available to keep up with the demand. The TOV scheme has not only enabled Irish businesses to tap into the domestic market, but as online retail goes beyond national borders, 3 in 5 businesses that have made use of the scheme have reported exporting overseas for the first time.

While the Voucher is a great catalyst the post voucher approval and implementation of the recommendations can be quite challenging as with these micro business SMEs, finding the time to spend on making continued efforts with online trading can be hard and can be slow to implement.

The principles of this scheme are very transferable, as the COVID-19 context and the need for government support for online trading is present in other regions. The potential obstacle is availability of funding and managing of the scheme through local authorities, since not all regions have the same governance structure.
In terms of funding, the Irish Government has announced an expansion of the Trading Online Voucher Scheme following “unprecedented demand” from businesses seeking to get online quickly due to restrictions put in place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The scheme will receive an additional €14.2m in funding after Local Enterprise Offices said they had received three years’ worth of applications in three months. This comes after a previous expansion of the scheme in early April, and brings the total budget to almost €20m in 2020. Other areas with similar statistics and budgets can easily implement this good practice.