5,000 businesses sign up to new online platform to make buying local easier

Search directory Golden Pages has signed up more than 5,000 Irish businesses for its new GetLocal.ie platform, which seeks to make it easier to buy online from local businesses.

The platform has more than 750,000 items available to purchase from local businesses with a target of one million within weeks.

Businesses can sign up for free to have their products and services listed on the site, with the platform serving as a “virtual shop-front” directing interested buyers to the individual businesses own website to complete transactions.

Users of the platform can search by locality to find businesses that are in specific areas or search via particular products.

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Ecommerce capabilities

Irish businesses have been slow to sell online with a 2019 survey from IE Domain Registry indicating that just 32 per cent of SMEs were in a position to engage in ecommerce at that time. The coronavirus pandemic has since encouraged more businesses to develop websites with ecommerce capabilities although the State still lags many other EU member states.

“Irish consumers deserve and are demanding a smarter online shopping experience, centred around where they live,” said Jade O’Connor, vice-president of product and marketing.

"GetLocal.ie wants to make it easier for online shoppers in Ireland to buy from their local businesses."