While people shopping online may be taking money from struggling retailers, they do so because the prices online are cheaper. When you have a limited budget you do what you can to try and make it go as far as you can and if that means shopping online rather than in town thats what you do.

while i try my utmost to buy Irish when and wherever i can the simple fact is that we all have budget constraints to live by. more often then not online shopping is cheaper than email. Irish retailers need to recognise that they need to cone up with more reasons to make the retailer shop with them. all you have to do is look at the restaurant industry and see the surge of deals out there to be had. other industries follow suit and Irish shoppers won’t feel so cheated when buying goods from Irish supplies.

Declan i try to buy irish as much as i possibly can but as conor said we have to live within our budget constraints.
Jay i appreciate that the extra money spent in a shop means another job but if you only have 200 to spend you will try and get as much for that 200 as you can.
Anyway a fair portion of our highstreet shops are not irish owned so ultimately the money ends up abroad anyway. With most uk owned stores the price here is much higher than the sterling price converted to euro. It is cheaper to buy from their website and pay in sterling if you can.

The internet is a lifeline for Irish businesses!

If €227 is the average someone must be going mad to make up for my lack of money to spend on presents this year! Homemade all the way!!! Now, who wants a nice pot of jam?

So we are spending, on average, €965.80* this Christmas, of which only €227 will be spent online. That does not seem excessive.

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/christmas-spending-665872-Nov2012/

Price it online but give a local the chance to price match. After sales back up is far easier face to face!

I’ve bought nearly all of my presents online this year, where possible though I’ve looked into Irish stores online!

Wouldn’t it make more sense that if shopping online buy it from an irish based company simples!

I think consumers will wait to see how much of a screwing we get in the budget.

Many of whom I’m sure were protesting against austerity and not paying the property tax. Recession my backside.

If people are going to christmas shop online well those are the people who should have no opinion about the sate of the countrys job situation every penny spent online is. Money taking straight away from struggling retailers