Irish lead way in online shopping

Times might be tough on the high street, but Irish shoppers online are leading the way in recessionary retail therapy, according to a survey published today.

According to Europe-wide research by online marketplace eBay, the Irish are to the fore in the growing online shopping trends of home beauty treatments, clothes purchases, and garden entertaining when data from the first three months of 2009 and 2008 is compared.

The broader economic picture may be ugly, but shoppers are determined to glam it up, with health and beauty sales increasing 44 per cent in Ireland, far outstripping the European average of 4 per cent. Sales of manicure and pedicure products were up by 101 per cent, for example, compared to 30 per cent in the United Kingdom.

Moreover, while hair shirts may be in fashion, sales of hair-removal products in Ireland grew 64 per cent - opposed to 17 per cent in France - while cellulite treatments and exfoliators posted sales increases of 75 per cent and 61 per cent, respectively.

Sales in clothing and accessories grew by 6 per cent on last year's figures across Europe, with Irish fashionistas again leading the way on eBay.ie, registering a 19 per cent sales increase over last year. In the women's clothing category, Irish sales are on a par with France, with growth of over 30 per cent, with sales of wedding dresses up 31 per cent and bridal accessories rising 64 per cent.

The Irish party spirit - or perhaps love of clowns - is also alive and well, judging by an 82 per cent increase in sales of fancy-dress clothing, the highest in Europe, with our UK neighbours the only other country in the survey to see a rise in this category.

Green-fingered shoppers have seen Irish sales of weed and pest control go up by 96 per cent, while sales of plants, seeds and bulbs in Ireland have sprouted by 127 per cent on last year, the highest in Europe, promising some "green shoots" across the State - recovery or no recovery.

However, top of the gardening charts were the British, who bought more plants, bulbs and seeds on the site than any other country. The Irish also failed to hit top spot in fake tan sales - that honour goes to Italy - while the Polish, perhaps betraying their communist past, buy the most retro-inspired clothing.

Commenting on the findings, Carey Maguire of eBay said: "With the demise of the Celtic Tiger, the Irish have become increasingly value conscious. However, they clearly don't want to discard any of life's little luxuries."

The research compared sales on eBay sites across Europe in the UK, Germany France, Ireland, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Italy, and Austria, comparing sales data year-on-year between the first quarters of 2008, and 2009.