Covid-19 Micro-business E-commerce Grant

A new £3m scheme from Invest Northern Ireland has been announced to help micro-business retailers develop their sales online, Economy Minister Diane Dodds has announced.

Northern Ireland Businesses can access up to a maximum grant of £5,000 to support 80% of eligible costs (projects must have a minimum spend of £1,250).

MBEG will be issued to eligible businesses on a first-come-first-served basis or when applications close on Friday, March 12, 2021 at 6pm – whichever comes first.

How Will The Grant Help Your Business?

Grofuse Digital Director, Denis Finnegan, said: “This scheme will provide a crucial source of support to help retailers grow their customer base and enter new markets.

“Access to expert digital resources will improve their websites and online services in response to a significant shift in buyer behaviour towards online shopping.

“The ongoing restrictions and crippling closures of high street stores mean that many businesses must sell online to survive. Even as restrictions ease, footfall may not return to the volume we have seen previously for quite some time – retailers must bounce back with alternative, online solutions now.”

Services Grofuse Can Provide With Funding

1. Development or redesign of your website.
2. Review and improve your current digital marketing capabilities and online sales channels.
3. Develop a comprehensive e-commerce strategy for sustainable growth online through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) and more.
4. Improve the digital marketing and e-commerce capabilities of employees.
5. Easily integrate our online ordering platform, Mercury Order, with your existing website or as a stand-alone system for click & collect and delivery services.

To be eligible for the MBEG grant, businesses must meet the following criteria:

• Employ less than 10 full-time staff and trading for at least two years.
• Your business has physical, retail premises in Northern Ireland which derives the majority of their turnover (more than 50%) from retail customers.
• Your business has physical stock that can be sold online and shipped to customers.
• Your project is not receiving any other public or government funding.
• You are able to complete your project, pay your supplier and make a claim within the next 6 months.

“We encourage those micro-retail businesses who need additional online support to avail of this new scheme. Retailers have the opportunity to adapt to online selling in an effort to recoup their losses and ‘future proof’ their businesses.

“Grofuse actively supports multiple clients in making the most of grant aid to boost their online businesses and has a 100% success rate for grant applications by producing high-quality results. Our implementation of the full spectrum of marketing services has delivered increased turnover and profits for clients every time.” Mr Finnegan added.

How to Apply

Contact our team at Grofuse for expert guidance and advice in submitting a successful application to accelerate your online sales today. Tel: +44 2871 228820 or email [email protected].