Omnichannel

Nearly half of UK retailers not ready for Brexit transition

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December 29, 2020

A good number of U.K. e-commerce and omnichannel retailers are not adequately prepared for the end of the Brexit transition period this week despite the fact most believe Brexit will have an impact on business operations.

That's a top finding from a PFS survey regarding impact from Brexit in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release.

Key findings from the research include:

• Just over half (54%) of UK retailers believe they are either fully prepared for Brexit, or will be by the end of 2020.
• Nearly a third (29%) concede that they are yet to make any preparations at all.
• Four-fifths (79%) admit they will be impacted by any cross-border effects of Brexit.
• Two-thirds (67%) of respondents believe Brexit could cause an order backlog in the first quarter of 2021.
• More than half (56%) say these delays would be related to sending goods to customers in the EU from the U.K.
• Two-thirds (67%) believe they will feel an impact when importing products from EU suppliers.

"The retailers that are putting measures in place now, such as using multiple distribution points across the UK and the EU to get goods to customers on time, will survive and thrive post-Brexit. Retailers operating in the UK and Europe should also look to third-party fulfillment providers to help ready their supply chain and mitigate potential issues arising from a no-deal Brexit scenario," Joe Farrell, VP of international operations at PFS, said in the release.