Galway-based Kenny's Book shop and Art Galleries is one of the three companies chosen by the European Commission as the best examples of SMEs in Europe that demonstrate innovative use of multimedia and the Internet in business. As the first book shop in Europe and the second in the world to establish a presence on the Internet in 1994, Kenny's was singled out because of dramatic cost reductions and impressive growth in turnover achieved as a result.
"The Internet made it possible for us to reduce each mailing's cost from 200 to 11 pence and to carry out the whole operation in minutes rather than days", said Maryse Collins, Marketing Manager for Kenny's Bookshop. "It has also opened up a host of new markets for us and has been the main contributor to a 30 per cent increase in our business over the past five years'. Kenny's now has plans to put the art gallery online.