Cloud Retail, e-commerce software platform, quantified cost losses and savings at key stages for UK retailers

A UK e-commerce platform helps retailers cut costs and boost efficiency, saving millions annually by streamlining operations and enhancing growth.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, August 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The UK e-commerce market is set to continue strong growth, with projected sales surpassing £114 billion by 2025. Despite this, many UK retailers face significant losses due to operational inefficiencies. Cloud Retail has analysed where e-commerce businesses lose money, from warehouse picking to order fulfilment, returns management, and payment processing, and quantified how streamlining these processes can save millions of pounds annually.

Retailers in the UK are under growing pressure from pricing wars, rising warehouse rents, constrained space, and customers demanding faster, more reliable deliveries. Inefficiencies such as manual warehouse picking, delayed or inaccurate deliveries, cumbersome returns, and fragmented payment systems quietly reduce profits due to their costs and complexities.

Here’s how Cloud Retail offers transparency on the losses and highlights the scale of savings achievable by optimising operations:

Warehouse and picking operations
Inefficient warehouse picking and manual fulfilment commonly cost large UK e-commerce operations around £30 million annually. With the Heimkaup case, the company demonstrates that intelligent picking solutions can reduce picking time by 50%, halving costs to roughly £15 million and unlocking annual savings of approximately £15 million.

Order fulfilment
Order fulfilment delays and errors add around £20 million to yearly overheads. The analysis shows improvement in fulfilment rates by an average of 15% which is also seen in Heimkaup’s results, reducing costs to approximately £17 million, thereby saving £3 million through fewer errors, re-deliveries, and improved customer satisfaction.

Customer retention and satisfaction
Beyond direct cost savings, the system enhances customer experience and retention. Circle K’s use of omnichannel services integrated via Cloud Retail yielded a 5% increase in customer retention and a 15% rise in satisfaction rates. While these benefits are less directly quantifiable in cost savings, they substantially impact revenue through repeat business and competitive positioning.

Operational costs
Logistics, handling, and ancillary costs often exceed £15 million annually for major retailers. The platform’s solutions enabled Circle K to reduce these costs by 30%, bringing expenses down to approximately £10.5 million and generating annual savings of £4.5 million.

In conclusion, Cloud Retail’s analysis demonstrates that UK retailers have the potential to plug financial leaks amounting to an estimated £22.5 million annually. At the same time, they can enhance customer satisfaction and enable sustainable, scalable growth.

Marat Bolatov
Cloud Retail
marat@thecloudretail.com