.IE Tipping Point Report 2020

The benefits of online investment Among the SMEs that have invested more than usual in their online services, 67% said the money has gone towards a redesigned or significantly updated website, while 59% launched or improved their online store with either click-and- collect or direct-to-door delivery. Over half have experienced a change in visitor numbers to their website since the Covid-19 crisis began; of that proportion, 77% have noticed an increase. A third of SMEs with a website say they don’t know or don’t know how to check. Among the quarter of SMEs that have online sales capability, 88% have noticed a change in their volume of sales since the Covid-19 crisis began; 77% say this has been a positive change. Of that number, over a third (37%) have noted an increase of more than 25%. Net returns When SMEs were asked if they had noticed any positive changes in terms of sales or customer enquiries as a result of their online services investment, almost half (46%) said they had, and this had either made them busier than before the Covid-19 crisis began or similarly busy. Almost half of all SMEs made use of online/mobile software to maintain relationships with existing/prospective customers. 31% of these SMEs report their customer relationships are better than usual. However, many SMEs are still struggling to deploy their online services. Over a third said the process had been difficult, while 63% said it was easy, but they required some kind of outside help. Billions of euros of Government finance is now available to help SMEs recover from the pandemic. Clearly, resources should be applied to help build digital capabilities for SMEs that are motivated to invest in online services. 37% of SMEs that noticed a change to their sales recorded an increase of 25% or more (Base: 111 SMEs that noticed an increase/ decrease in sales from their online store) SME perception of difficulty pivoting towards online services (Base: 100 SMEs that invested in online services since Covid-19 crisis began) 33% Easy but required expert help 23% Difficult and required expert help 25% Easy and required little time 14% Difficult and required significant time investment 5% Easy but required help of industry colleague Section 3  |  The SME response to Covid-19 [continued] 21% 25% 19% 16% 19% YES, BUSIER THAN BEFORE THE COVID-19 CRISIS YES, MAINTAINING A SIMILAR LEVEL OF BUSINESS AS BEFORE THE CRISIS YES, ALTHOUGH BUSINESS STILL STRUGGLING NO, NOT NOTICED ANY DIFFERENCE DON’T KNOW Has online investment translated into increased sales and customer enquiries? (Base: 100 SMEs that invested in online services since Covid-19 crisis began) 9