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Online Retail SchemeFrequently Asked QuestionsFAQsUpdated 31/03/2023ApplicationsEligibilityEmployeesInternal ChampionCostsService ProvidersWorkplanGrant Claim Process and Eligible CostsApplicationsQ: If approved for the Online Retail Scheme previously can you apply for this?A: Successful applicants that have been approved only once before in one of previous calls are eligible to re-apply under this call. They must propose a clearly different project to that undertaken panies which are part of a group structure with the same ultimate ownership may only submit one application for the group and it cannot be their third one in total. The scheme is also open to eligible applicants that have not applied previously and those that have applied but not been approved funding within past Online retail schemes.Q: Is it essential that retailers applying need to concentrate on exports? A: Please look at the evaluation criteria for this Scheme where ‘Ambition to Internationalise the Business’ is weighted at 15%. In order to be eligible, companies must have the potential to export in the future. It is not necessary to be currently exporting, however demonstration of a plan outlining how the company proposes to achieve international sales will influence the overall score of the application.Q: How many years Accounts do I have to provide? A: To make a valid application, companies must provide their most recent full year of Statutory Accounts (no more than two years old at the time of application)Q: If a retailer did not get approval for a previous application are they allowed to re-apply in this round? A: Yes, you can apply but we suggest you apply with a modified and up to date proposal. Q: Typically what % do you need to achieve to be successful? A: To be approved for funding, applicants must score a minimum of 60%. However, this is a competitive call and the highest scoring applications will be approved until the fund has been completely utilised.Q: Is there any regional focus?A: No, there is not. Applicants from all counties across ROI are welcome to apply.Q: In terms of “Strength of the project” (worth 30%) what are the main success criteria?A: Full explanation of the criteria for applicants is on retailQ: Does the historical profitability of the business have any bearing on the approval of the applicant? A: There is a 10% weighting in the scoring for the company’s financial track record, which would include historical profitability and other financial aspects of the company’s trading history including the appropriateness of accounting and risk management proceduresEligibilityQ: If we are primarily a retail business but have a restaurant and cafe which is ancillary to the retail are we still eligible to apply?A: You are eligible to apply if you have a physical retail store with 10 or more full-time employees on a full-time equivalent basis in the latest accounting period or has grown to this level since that date (up to the date of current call open of 4 April 2023) and derive the majority of company revenue from retailing products directly to individual consumers. Where a company provides both products and services, the applicant must provide a breakdown of sales revenue showing that products account for more than 50% of total revenue for a recent trading period which may be up to the call close date. Q: Can Restaurants apply or is this more specific to retail? A: This scheme is not targeted at the hospitality sector, which are not eligible to apply. You may be eligible for the Bord Bia Scheme or other supports for the sector: Business Assistance (bordbia.ie)Homepage | Business Supports | Business Support Hub | Fáilte Ireland (failteireland.ie)Q: Can wholesalers with trade retail outlets also qualify? A: You must operate a business-to-consumer (B2C) model. Where a company has a mixture of B2C and B2B operations, the applicant must provide a breakdown of sales revenue in the application form showing that sales from B2C activities account for more than 50% of total revenue for a recent trading period, up to the current call close date.Q: How much of an existing online presence is required? Are only retailers with an existing website being considered? A: The business must have an existing online presence (e.g. website, Facebook page, Instagram account, other social media). Companies which do not have an existing online presence should examine the Online Trading Voucher available through their Local Enterprise Office.Local Enterprise OfficeQ: Are travel retail businesses eligible? A: Companies where the principal business activity is the provision of a service rather than retail of products are not eligible. Examples typically include, and please note that this list is not exhaustive, mechanics, fitting of tyres, tattoo artists, funeral directors, medical, dental, veterinary, accountancy, legal services, travel agents, grooming and beauty services, hair salons etc.). Where a company provides both products and services, the applicant must provide a breakdown of sales revenue showing that products account for more than 50% of total revenue for a recent trading period which may be up to the call close date.Q: If we have an existing eCommerce platform but want to progress our platform and eCommerce offering can we submit an application? Or is this just for new eCommerce applicants? A: You may submit an application, however, projects which do not propose significant additional functionality to the online presence of the applicant company will be considered ineligibleQ: If I intend on closing bricks and mortar and going online only am I still eligible. I had two shops and 10 employees but want to convert to online only?A: One of the objectives of the scheme is to protect physical operation of retail companies and businesses that do not have a physical retail shop are not eligible under this scheme. EmployeesQ: Is this Scheme only open to retail companies and with a minimum of 10 employees? A: It is open to Irish based retail companies of 10 full time equivalent employees or more and which derive the majority of revenue from their retail outlet. See the full eligibility criteria on our webpage.Q: - Can I have a mix of full time and part time employees to make up the 10 employees? A: Yes, please see the table on our website link below to calculate full time equivalent employees; . Internal ChampionQ: Can you explain how the internal champion salary is covered and how that impacts on the daily rate of champions? A: Salary costs of a project champion can be partially covered by this support. This person will work with an External Service Provider on the project. The costs to support the salary of the project champion must not exceed the External Service Provider costs. A maximum of 1 internal champion per company is eligible for salary costs. The maximum eligible salary of the internal champion is €1000 per week (maximum of €200 per day) Claims for wages and salary support for the champion must show the actual salary paid and be supported by payslips and proof of payment.Q: Can project manager/internal champion be the owner? A: Yes, they can. One of the objectives of the scheme is to support retailers in closing digital skills gap and encourage businesses to invest in building inhouse digital capabilities. Internal Project champion is a standalone evaluation criterion under this call, accounting for 15% weighting. For this reason, it is advisable that the Internal Project Champion is an active internet and social media user selected based on their digital skills rather than their seniority level. The management team must, however, also support the Internal Project Champion in their efforts. Q: Could internal champion allowance be split between 2 people working on digital initiatives? A: No, only one internal champion is eligible for funding.Q: If the champion currently only works part time. If he/she has to work extra days on this project can their salary be increased for the extra days? A: The maximum eligible salary per applicant/employee of the applicant is €1,000 per week (maximum of €200 per day). Only time spent on the proposed project by the applicant/employees of the applicant is eligible. Claims for wages and salary support for the applicant/employees of the applicant must show the actual salary paid and be supported by payslips and proof of payment.Q: Does the cost of a project champion include a new hire to be made with a successful application or does it need to be an existing employee promoted to the position. A: It may be a new hire, but does not need to be a new hire.CostsQ: What is the maximum grant available?A: The minimum project expenditure is €20,000 and minimum grant is €10,000 - applications with expenditure below €20,000 will be considered ineligible. The grant is calculated at a maximum of 50% of eligible expenditure of up to €50,000. The maximum grant available is up to €25,000. Q: Why don't you fund paid advertising, for example Google adwords, LinkedIn or Facebook ads? A: We don’t cover paid advertising as the objective of this fund is to assist companies to build long-term e-commerce capability within the company.Q: Can you please clarify if this grant can be used for the construction of a new improved website, we are moving from a website currently for just promotions to a full ecommerce solution?A: We will cover the fees of an established External Service Provider(s) to further develop / enhance the company’s transactional website or online presence. The grant must be used to introduce additional functionality; and Training Course fees are not eligible, however in-house training provided by an external provider to enable a company to develop and maintain a robust online retail operation are eligible. This could include training for Content Management System (CMS), eMarketing, catalogue management, e-commerce systems, and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), etc.Q: In the past few weeks we have invested money to position us to sell online which we are now doing. It seems that all of this cost is not applicableA: This funding cannot cover retrospective costs - only costs incurred by successful applicants after the call close date are eligible for support.Q: If I want to move to a new SaaS based e-commerce platform, what costs can the grant cover? Is the subscription for the platform covered or just strategy, content, design, custom development and marketing costs?A: The purchase of hardware or “off the shelf” software package licences or subscriptions e.g. for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are not covered under this Scheme. However, we would cover some costs for strategy development, content design, implementation and for development of in-house e-marketing capability.Q: Is technical development to upgrade an existing platform covered? Will redesign and rebuild of the platform be covered? A: We will not cover the costs of the platform upgrade but will allow some costs for implementation e.g. integration with the company’s stock or payments systems. Q: Can we proceed with our website design and get it underway before the grant is approved? A: Costs incurred prior to call close date are not eligible for this grant. Should you incur costs prior to receiving formal approval from Enterprise Ireland, then this is your own responsibility. There is no guarantee that your application will be successful, as this is a competitive call where the available funding will be allocated based on the score which applications receive. Service ProvidersQ: Can external service provider be based outside of Ireland? A: Yes, they can. Q: Does the eCommerce partner agency have to be selected in advance of the application? A: Yes, you will need to include details of the service provider in the application, together with a breakdown of tasks and activities, number of days and daily rates of your chosen service provider.Q: Can the External Service Provider be somebody from our staff, i.e. an in-house web developer who works alongside our project champion. A: An External Service Provider must be used in order to build capability within your company. In addition, you are allowed one internal champion. The costs to support the salary of the project champion must not exceed the external service provider costs. A maximum of 1 internal champion per company is eligible for salary costs. Q: Is there a maximum daily rate for the external service provider (Consultancy firm)? A: Consultancy rate is a maximum of €900 per day per service provider (Consultancy) firm. Q: If two consultants are on site on the same day is it €900 per day for both?A: A company may use more than one consultancy firm for the project however, where more than one consultant is being used from the same firm a total daily rate of max €900 per day will apply to the firm.All consultancy firms used must have been included on the grantee company’s application form or they have subsequently been approved by Enterprise Ireland Online Retail team.WorkplanQ: Are there timelines for completing the work outlined in the workplan and claiming for the costs? Yes. Expenditure incurred prior to the date of the close of the call is not eligible for support. Company may claim for expenditure that is incurred and paid for up to Final Claim Date which will be stated in your Letter of Offer. Q: Can new development costs arising from consultation/scoping process be included? A: Your application should give details of the workplan and its deliverability within the scheme’s timeframe which will be stated on the application form. Any changes to the workplan must be communicated and agreed with the Enterprise Ireland Online Retail team prior to commencement. Q: Do you consider a retailer proposing to join an online marketplace as part of their online strategy, (e.g. eBay) and the costs of integration with this marketplace a valid and worthwhile online strategy? A: A project looking at online marketplaces would be valid. Your application should demonstrate how this fits into your overall business plan and e-commerce strategy.Q: Does this project need to be a transactional e-commerce website or can it be a lead generation website to avail of the grant? A: It can be either.Grant Claim Process and Eligible Costs FAQs Are Project Champion's time and costs conducting internal training programmes covered?Yes, as long as the project champion is working on building the company's online capability, either directly with the consultant or as part of their day to day activities including the internal training of colleagues, this would be considered an eligible activity.When Internal Champion is working part time, reduced daily hours, what is the evaluation of salary Full time Daily rate calculation: If employee is paid monthly multiply the monthly gross salary by 12 and divide by 232 days.orIf employee is paid weekly multiply the weekly gross salary by 52 and divide by 232 days.= maximum daily rate, or €200 per day whichever is lesser.Part time Daily rate calculation:Gross Salary divided by number of actual working days = maximum daily rate, or €200 per day whichever is lesser.How many days of salary are covered?Salary expenses are considered eligible expenditure only if they incur on working days (Monday to Friday) during the project time as stated in your Letter of Offer (3rd May – 3rd November 2023) but no more than 125 eligible days. Please note all Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays are excluded. Does the internal champion need to remain the same throughout?If the Internal Champion who was approved in the application needs to change due to unforeseen circumstances then you need to contact the Enterprise Ireland Online Retail team at retail@enterprise- with details of the new Internal Champion (role, salary and briefly outline their suitability as project champion) for the team to approve the change. If we decide to use more than one External Service Provider, does this need to be pre-approved or previously mentioned in our plan?If you are planning to use an External Service Provider who is not listed on your application then you need to seek approval from the Enterprise Ireland Online Retail team by sending details of the new service provider to retail@enterprise- and confirm that the workplan being carried out will remain the same.If we allocated less than €200 per day in our application for the internal champion costs, can we increase this? i.e. a salary increase.The total Internal Champion grant is limited to the max of what has been approved. If you increase your salary costs, then the number of days that you can claim for will reduce.e.g.if application stated 60 days at gross salary of €150 per day: grant approved = €9000if gross salary has increased to €200 per day then the €9000 approved will be claimed over 50 days.I understand ad spend is not claimable, however is ad strategy and setup of ad accounts such as Google and Facebook etc. to be managed internally going forward claimable?While, the funding of online advertising campaigns e.g. pay per click/banner ad campaigns (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) is considered ineligible, strategy development ensuring that the company’s online presence is being fully utilised / optimised to fulfil its overall potential, supporting the overall business strategy is eligible. Therefore, a strategy for using ads can be developed, however once-off costs used to fund campaigns are ineligible. Also, such costs cannot be additional i.e. it has to be within the approved funding limit.In our application we referenced Shopify, can we change platform? If so, do we need to request approval from EI?Yes, it is possible to change the platform, and this would be considered a minor change as long as it is in line with overall stated objectives of the project plan. However, any significant changes to the workplan must be communicated and agreed with the Enterprise Ireland Online Retail team prior to commencement. Otherwise, when we are clearing a claim or payment the details from your approval won’t align and it could result in you not receiving the grant. Can we use a multitude of External Service Providers (Consultants)?Yes. However, the approved costs can't be exceeded, and you need to provide the Enterprise Ireland Online Retail team with the details of the additional consultants before you begin the project. The cost has to be within that already approved for external consultant fees. If adding additional consultants, please confirm you will be complying with the original workplan. If the workplan has changed you need to present the new workplan to the Enterprise Ireland Online Retail team for our review and approval.NB: The consultancy rate of maximum of €900 per day applies to the service provider/ consultancy firm regardless of the number of individual consultants from that single firm working on the project on a particular day. However, Multiple consultancy firms can be used on the same day.Does the funding include the creation of a new website to integrate Shopify with our accounts system?Eligible costs include the fees of an External Service Provider(s) to further develop / enhance the company’s transactional website or online presence. The grant must be used to introduce additional functionality. The creation of a new website and integrating Shopify with your accounts system would be considered eligible.Do we need to keep a time / activity log for the internal champion? You do not need to keep hourly time sheets, however when making a claim for the Internal Champion you must fill out a claim form listing the Date; Activity and Salary per Day as per the following example:DateActivity (to be listed for each day claimed)Salary per Day***03/05/2023 – 05/05/2023(3 days)Liasing with external consultants on development of initial site map, product list and catalogue structure.€185/day15/05/23 – 18/05/23 (4 days)Project work with consultants. Review and finetuning of initial site map, product list and catalogue structure. Reduce produce list from 12,000 to 3,000€185/day06/06/23-14/06/23 (7 days)Ongoing project work with consultants: retail integration to finalise EPOS integration spec. Ongoing cataloguing and sitemap work.€185/dayTherefore, we recommend that you keep a broad list of Internal Champion activities as you will need to refer to them when making a claim.How many claims can I submit?Grants approved in the May 2023 call must be paid in calender year 2023. Therefore, only one claim will be allowed. ................
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