With the trend ever increasing towards online spending, it is estimated that only 23% of small Irish businesses are engaged in any meaningful way in eCommerce sales. For businesses employing less than ten people, this percentage could be even lower. It is now believed that, of online purchases made in Ireland, up to 70% of these are done in overseas markets.
There is now an urgency to ensure that businesses recognise that this is happening and that they are encouraged and supported to correctly respond to this digital reality. In order to support this goal, the National Digital Strategy aims to get more businesses trading online. To this end, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment offer a Trading Online Voucher Scheme through Local Enterprise Offices (LEO). A limited number of vouchers are now available to eligible businesses, subject to funds allocation from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
* Please note: You will receive an automated email response when you submit your completed application. If you do not receive an automated email response, this means that your application has not been submitted and is still at the draft stage. If you don't answer all questions, your application will remain at draft stage. You can log into the account that you created at any time and complete your application by doing the following:
- complete your application form by answering all questions
- upload the required three quotations
- verify your signature (by following the directions given)
- "submit" your application
After your grant application has been successfully submitted, Tipperary Local Enterprise Office will register you as a grant applicant and send an acknowledgement letter with your unique reference number to the email address on your application form, usually within 1 - 2 working days. Please ensure that you use an email address that you check regularly for this grant application. If you do not receive this letter of acknowledgement, please check your junk email folder first, and if it is not there, please email christina.stapleton@tipperarycoco.ie to advise that you have submitted an application and have not received an acknowledgement letter.
*Please note, an acknowledgement letter is not a Letter of Offer;
Local Enterprise Office Tipperary's Evaluations and Approvals Committee will process your application and, if successful, you will receive an email containing your Letter of Offer and the relevant information about your grant, which you must read carefully.
Your Letter of Offer outlines documents that are required to be sent to LEO Tipperary within 10 days, and documents that are required to be submitted when you wish to claim your grant.
When your website is complete and you have paid your web developer in full, all required documents are necessary in order to approve your grant payment. Your claim will be processed by LEO Tipperary and grant payment will be made directly to your bank account approximately 2 - 3 weeks later.
The vouchers are targeted at businesses with the following profile:
- Limited or no e-Commerce presence
- 10 or less employees
- Turnover less than €2m
- Applicant business must be trading for at least 6 months
- Business must be located in the area covered by the LEO to whom they make their application; i.e. Tipperary based / registered companies must apply to Tipperary LEO.
Ineligible projects for this scheme:
- Companies with charitable status, commercial semi-state companies, trade associations and company representative bodies such as Chambers of Commerce are not eligible to participate in the scheme.
- "Not for profit" and social entrepreneurship applicants unless they operate in a commercial domain
- Professional services specialising in IT type services who are already capable of trading online using in-house systems
- Conferences and seminars
- Projects contrary to public policy
- Duplication of support for projects which would be eligible for assistance from other State Agencies of EU funded Operational Programmes
- Projects with employees in excess of 10 people
- Projects deemed to be capable of proceeding in any event without scheme assistance
- Projects essentially comprising importation and distribution
- Categories of business excluded from the Trading Online Voucher Scheme as defined by their NACE code. For the list of categories of business excluded from the Trading Online Voucher Scheme as defined by their NACE code, please see Appendix 1 on the terms and conditions, which can be found on the Trading Online Voucher Scheme web page on www.localenterprise.ie/Tipperary under "Financial Supports" .
All applicants MUST :
- Submit THREE (3) quotations from web developers with their application
- Attend an information seminar / webinar; these are hosted by various Local Enterprise Offices around the country as well as Tipperary Local Enterprise Office
These are mandatory terms and conditions of the Trading Online Voucher Scheme and applications cannot be processed without meeting these conditions.