An online community marketplace in Ballinasloe has been shortlisted in the .IE Digital Town Awards which are celebrating the digital achievements of towns and communities across Ireland.
ShopBallinasloe.ie is shortlisted alongside a range of other initiatives in 14 categories, and it has a chance of winning a share of the total prize fund of €100,000.
The awards, which were launched this year, recognise the great work and achievements of towns across Ireland which have used technology to breathe new life into local communities.
ShopBallinasloe.ie is a joint initiative between local businesses marketing agency Araya Business Support Services (Honoria Mitchell Black, Niamh Creaven Connaughton) and Kickstart Web Design (Joe Glennon, David Ansley).
Launched last April, ShopBallinasloe.ie was set up to allow shoppers to connect with and purchase from their favourite local businesses in the town.
One year on, the website hosts an even wider variety of Irish products from a range of local businesses, allowing shoppers to browse across multiple products and services and checkout in one single transaction with their order shipped from the supplier straight to their home.
From the beginning the team dreamed big and continue to do so! A year on and the local initiative has grown and grown and has gained huge traction amongst not only local businesses and customers, but from customers reaching all corners of the world.
To date, the team have achieved some huge milestones: over 100 businesses onboard, thousands of products available online, over €65,000 in online sales and an impressive 750k pageviews on the website.
In November 2020, the business expanded adding the Town Voucher just in time for Christmas.
The vouchers have proved extremely popular with over €60,000 worth purchased worldwide – making them the perfect gift for any occasion or ideal prizes for Raffles, Draws, Golf Classics and Table Quiz’s.
The team said that this success would not have been possible without the outstanding team and collaborative efforts of many who has helped along the way including local businesses, online shoppers, local community, BACD, Ballinasloe Credit Union, Galway County Council, friends and family.
