Almost since online retail took off, the European e-commerce market has been dominated by the sales racked up by consumers in three of the continent’s biggest countries: the UK, France and Germany.
However, one of the features of recent years has been the degree to which consumers in other territories have been responsible for an increase in orders.
Among them is Ireland, which is expected to see e-commerce purchases made by its shoppers top €6.1 billion this year – an increase of 7.2 per cent compared to 2024.
That is likely to represent substantial business for brands based in the UK.
According to figures published by the Government in London in recent weeks, Ireland is the UK’s sixth biggest trading partner, responsible for £49.3 billion (€59.3 billion) worth of sales of goods and services last year.
The same data revealed that 37,200 businesses registered for VAT in the UK exported goods to Ireland in 2024.
Such trade is a big earner for the Irish Revenue too. The amount of customs duties which it received last year rose by just under two per cent to €593.6 million.
Some of that was generated by the shipment of products later returned by consumers.
Yet many retailers selling to Irish shoppers remain unaware that they are able to recover the VAT and duties involved in what have become known as ‘boomerang buys’ or how they might easily recoup the sums involved.
That means they risk losing out on substantial amounts – at least €57 on consignments from retailers not registered with the European Union’s Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) or consignments worth over €150.
When you consider that as much as 40 per cent of the most popular items bought online – fashion and footwear – can subsequently be returned, the failure to recover VAT and duties on those purchases can be expensive.
Thanks to COLL-8, though, there is a simple, quick solution.
We led the way in automating a customs declaration process which became more complicated after the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union – administration which was regarded as daunting, even for some well-known retailers.
The COLL-8 system is so effective and has become so popular that is relied upon by a growing number of the best-loved online brands.
Last year, we handled more customs declarations than any other Irish specialist – roughly one-fifth of all those declarations handled by the Irish Revenue.
Our award-winning delivery and returns platform, drop2shop, has enabled major retailers to recover millions of pounds each in VAT and duty.
It automatically creates an export declaration when consumers select the products which they’re returning.
Retailers need to reimburse the cost of shoppers’ orders but are eligible to receive any VAT and duties incurred in shipping them.
The process is seamless and paper-free, and has removed one of the costly complications for UK-based brands of pursuing trade in an increasingly lucrative e-commerce market on their doorsteps.
Instead of being out of pocket, they have been able to reclaim the returned products along with any tax and duties which they might have incurred.
To find out how we can help your business, just get in touch and discover more about the drop2shop difference.