Bizstartup.ie -

Based in Carlow, Kate McNamara spent a year designing the site before it went live last September. She says there have been orders every week since.

“I was self-employed before having run a ladies’ boutique. When I had my two boys I was able to make the choice to stay at home. But things have changed since then, as my husband worked in property and suddenly went from being the breadwinner to not having work. He is working again now, but I needed to do something to bring in more income. This allows me to work from home and spend time with the boys in the afternoon,” she says.

Thebabystore.ie is currently operating on a “shoestring” budget, McNamara explains, although she has spent some money on Google Adwords, which has brought in 80pc of her traffic. She also uses word of mouth and Facebook.

So how is her site different to the other baby sites in Ireland? “I wanted to make it as user friendly as possible. There’s no clutter and it’s easy to navigate with simple categories. I found the process of registering and ordering on other sites was laborious, so I made this short and easy as people prefer to spend their time browsing the products rather than at the checkout when they have children,” McNamara explains.

“One of the benefits I haven’t seen on any other baby site is the points and rewards scheme. Every time you buy something, we give you points that can then be redeemed against your next purchase. If you refer a friend, we will give you bonus points when that friend makes their first purchase.”