The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (DETE) has proposed a further call for Online Retail Scheme applications, aiming to encourage the retail sector in Ireland to develop a more competitive online offer that will enable an increase in their customer base and build a more resilient business. The scheme offers a grant of up to €40,000 (subject to match funding) to help retail enterprises (10 employees of  more) to develop their ecommerce capability, and in turn reap the positive enterprise impacts of trading online.

The applicant must be an Irish based retail enterprise that has 10 or more full-time employees. The business must also: 

• have an existing online presence (e.g., website or social media) 
• have a retail store and derive revenue via B2C Product Sale. 

1. After the project is completed, the service provider will invoice the company (including VAT where appropriate)

2. Payment of the grant will be made on the basis of claims for expenditure actually paid for by the successful applicant company and verified and evidenced by Enterprise Ireland with reference to invoices, payroll, time records, bank statements and other relevant documents.  

• Companies that do not have a physical retail store
• Companies which are currently clients of Enterprise Ireland and are eligible for other funding assistance from Enterprise Ireland
• Projects which do not propose significant additional functionality to the online presence of the applicant company will be considered ineligible
• The minimum project expenditure is €20,000. Applications with expenditure below €20,000 will be considered ineligible. For first time applicants, the grant is calculated at a maximum of 80% of eligible expenditure of up to €80,000. For applicants who were awarded funding in the previous Online Retail scheme calls, the grant is calculated at a maximum of 50% of eligible expenditure of up to €80,000.
• Companies primarily operating a business-to-business (B2B) model
• Companies where the principal business activity is the provision of a service rather than retail of products. Examples typically include, and please note that this list is not exhaustive, mechanics, fitting of tyres, tattoo artists, funeral directors, medical, dental, veterinary, accountancy, legal services, travel agents, grooming and beauty services, hair salons etc.). Where a company provides both products and services, the applicant must provide a breakdown of sales revenue showing that products account for more than 50% of total revenue for a recent trading period which may be up to the call close date.
• Companies where the principal business activity is the provision of financial services and products (e.g. mortgage, insurance brokers etc.)
• Car and vehicle dealerships
• Companies where the principal business activity is the wholesale or re-sale of goods to other businesses or construction trade professionals
• Companies which are primarily marketing or buying groups acting on behalf of retail stores
• Franchisees of retailers for whom the franchisor provides material online assistance. If you are operating under a franchise, please ensure that you provide clarity in your application as to the nature of your relationship with the franchisor i.e. what online and offline help is provided by them
• Companies active in the primary production of agricultural products, fishery and aquaculture
• Companies active in the provision of hospitality and leisure services (e.g. hotels, guest houses, restaurants, coffee shops etc.)
• Companies active in the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages where consumed on the retail premises
• Sole Traders with a business name registered with the Companies Registration Office
• Applications which include or relate to activities that Enterprise Ireland considers as ineligible or as involving an unacceptable reputational risk. Ineligible activities include activities relating to: the gambling sector, including ‘gaming’ (as defined in the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956), adult entertainment, tobacco products and cannabis-based products which are not authorised as medicines;
• Companies which are part of a group structure with the same ultimate ownership may only submit one application for the group
• Applicants who were approved any other State or EU funding for the project for which they are seeking funding
• Companies which have already reached their De Minimis aid limit

Online Retail Scheme covers digital strategy, digital infrastructure, technical and advisory support to help a company on their digitalization journey, up to a value of €40,000 ex VAT. A maximum daily rate of €900 ex VAT per day shall apply.