AddressPal - the Shoppers Best Friend
17 July 2017
- A third of Irish adults would ask someone visiting the US to bring something specific home
- Levi’s, Apple technology and Sephora products top the US shopping wish-list
- Almost half of Irish adults shop online at least monthly
- US is the best destination for beauty, Japan is favoured for tech goods and UK for fashion
- Half of respondents have experienced failure to ship to Ireland when shopping online
- 1 in 4 say high international shipping costs are a deterrent to online shopping
Monday, 17 July 2017: Ever filled up an online shopping cart only to discover, at the final stage of the transaction, that the goods do not ship to Ireland? It’s a common frustration for half of Irish adults according to new research* from An Post as they announce great news for online shoppers. 
AddressPal, an online service which allows customers to avail of a proxy address for the delivery of online shopping from the UK, US and beyond, enabling purchases from websites that don’t typically deliver to Ireland. With both UK and US proxy addresses provided, AddressPal customers can arrange for their international shipping to come via either market. The UK service offers delivery straight to the home or a nominated Post Office while AddressPal USA accommodates delivery to home addresses.
International orders
Ireland’s shoppers are increasingly looking to websites to fulfil their retail desires, with almost half of survey respondents (48%) saying they shop online at least once a month. America is the international destination of choice for 1 in 3 shoppers buying beauty products and cosmetics while 1 in 5 Irish consumers would most like to get their tech and electronic goods from Japan. The US (33%), UK (22%) and Italy (13%) prove most popular with fashion and accessory seekers.
Stateside shopping requests
Such is our love for shopping stateside, almost 1 in 3 Irish adults (31%) admit to asking friends and family bound for the US to bring specific goods home for them. Levi’s denim, makers of the original blue jean, is top of the wish list for 1 in 5, followed by Apple technology (18%) and Sephora beauty products (7%).
Other items and brands referenced by survey respondents include Kylie Lip Kits, Christmas decorations, a Raiders American Football helmet, Elvis memorabilia and Big Red chewing gum.
Desperately seeking solutions
An Post’s research also finds that 46% of consumers are most likely to shop on US websites when they cannot find their desired goods in Ireland or Europe. Additionally, 42% say that certain items are cheaper to purchase from US websites.
However, 1 in 4 say that unforeseen shipping costs can be a deterrent to online shopping**. More than half of Irish shoppers (57%) have encountered issues with expensive international shipping costs when ordering online for delivery to Ireland. Skirting around the issue, 1 in 5 respondents say they have ordered goods online and had them shipped to a friend or family’s address in another country to bypass delivery restrictions.
Shopping dreams, delivered
Commenting on the research findings, Garrett Bridgeman, General Manager of Parcels at An Post, said,
“We’re breaking down the barriers and making online shopping easier and cheaper for Irish consumers. In the past, options were too often limited by expensive shipping costs and the failure of international e-retailers to ship goods to Ireland and this research clearly shows the frustration of customers. AddressPal from An Post solves all these problems, with reliability and peace-of-mind guaranteed.
The continual improvement of An Post Parcel services means that we are best placed to provide a delivery solution to Irish shoppers online. AddressPal resolves delivery headaches for consumers by availing of a UK and USA address that can be used as a postal address for the delivery of UK and USA online orders.”
AddressPal customers can shop online with ease and have goods delivered to their nominated Post Office or tracked and delivered to their home, work or an alternative address.
For further information and to register, visit at www.addresspal.ie.
*Online omnibus conducted by Ignite Research on behalf of An Post. Representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+ between 29th June and 4th July 2017.
Service charges for Address Pal are as follows:
| AddressPal UK - Tracked Home / Local Post Office Delivery | AddressPal USA Tracked Home Delivery | AddressPal (UK only) - Post Office Collection | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | Price | Weight | Price | Weight | Price |
| 0-2KG | €5.99 | 0-2KG | €15.99 | 0-20KG | €3.75 |
| 2-5KG | €6.99 | 2-5KG | €20.99 | Oversize | €25.00 |
| 5-10KG | €8.99 | 5-10KG | €29.99 | ||
| 10-15KG | €9.99 | 10-15KG | €41.99 | ||
| 15-20KG | €12.99 | 15-20KG | €53.99 | ||
