Retail Excellence Ireland, the Irish national association of Ecommerce Europe, hosted the last Ecommerce Europe Round Table in Dublin on 17 September, bringing together leading retailers selling products and/or services online to consumers and other business stakeholders, such as payments providers. The Round Table was a great opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences, and to learn more about e-commerce sector in Ireland and the online marketing practices of the leading low cost airline Ryanair.

Exclusive: facts & figures on Ireland presented by Ecommerce Europe

The Round Table was the occasion for the Secretary General ad interim of Ecommerce Europe - Ms. Audrey Keukens - to present in exclusive the key 2014 infographics for the Business-to-Consumers (B2C) e-commerce Irish market. According to Ecommerce Europe’s research report, the total e-commerce turnover of goods and services accounted for €5.3bn in Ireland in 2014. This puts Ireland in fifth position in the ranking of Western European countries for B2C e-commerce after the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Belgium. “For 2015, the research department of Ecommerce Europe forecasted an increase of the annual turnover of the Irish e-commerce, raising up to €5.9bn”, declared Ms. Keukens.

A business perspective: Ryanair

The participants had the opportunity to hear also from Mr. Kenny Jacobs - Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Ryanair - who presented the business perspective when dealing with cross-border e-commerce. Mr. Jacobs compared Ryanair to one of the most famous and biggest e-commerce marketplace in the world, and declared that a company must always improve itself if it wants to be successful. That is why Ryanair pays attention to consumers’ feedback and strives to improve the digital experience and its brand, also through online marketing. Mr. Jacobs explained that the success of Ryanair is also due to fact that the airline captures as much data as it can and tries to integrate it all in one insight platform. Having a responsive and mobile-friendly design for the website is also an a-must for every company selling goods and/services online to consumers, according to the CMO of Ryanair.

Participation and future Round Tables

Round Tables are accessible for Company Members and Business Partners of Ecommerce Europe and they represent a great opportunity to engage in fruitful discussions on e-commerce challenges from all over Europe. You are invited to join the upcoming Round Tables which will take place on:

22 October 2015: Ecommerce Europe - Round Table Lisbon, Portugal2 November 2015: Ecommerce Europe - Round Table Milan, Italy3 November 2015: Ecommerce Europe - Round Table Lugano, Switzerland

To join, please send an email to Ms. Marilyn Donkor at m.donkor@bbp.nl. Click here for more information about the Round Tables.