Linnworks unveiled its 2025 “Retail Resilience Report,” offering one of the most comprehensive views into how retailers are responding to economic headwinds while finding new avenues for growth.
“Retailers are navigating a perfect storm of cost increases and changing customer expectations,” said Jon Bahl, CEO, Linnworks. “Our ‘Retail Resilience Report’ highlights not just the challenges, but the opportunities to adapt operations, diversify sales channels and become more efficient. We want to equip our customers with the insights and community to do just that.”
Analyzing survey responses from hundreds of e-commerce retail professionals and decision-makers, the report highlights rising operational costs, marketplace complexity and shifting consumer behaviors among the top issues threatening margins and growth. Yet, across markets, retailers are experimenting with new approaches, such as marketplace diversification, automation and customer retention initiatives, that offer valuable insights and actionable lessons that are applicable across regions.
Additional key themes throughout the report include:
- Economic pressures: A striking 85% of retailers have experienced increased business expenses over the past year, driven by inflation, supply chain disruptors and shifting consumer behavior. To address these challenges, many are automating back-end processes, optimizing inventory management and expanding into new marketplaces to diversify revenue streams.
- Shifting consumer behaviors: Forty-four percent of customers in the U.S. exhibit moderate adjustments and 26% show significant changes in purchasing habits, compared to U.K. businesses reporting 23% of customers making significant adjustments and 51% showing moderate changes. These shifts offer insight into how retailers can rethink assortment planning, promotional strategies and fulfillment experiences to better meet evolving customer expectations.
- Learning across markets: The report emphasizes how strategies from the U.S. and U.K. can inform one another. U.S. retailers emphasize supply chain resilience and operational flexibility while U.K. retailers are responding to post-Brexit complexities and rapidly changing consumer behaviors. Together, these approaches offer a blueprint for building global resilience.
- Growth strategies: Despite cost pressures, retailers remain committed to global expansion and technology investments. Automation is transforming fulfillment and warehouse operations, enabling businesses to enhance efficiency, scalability and customer satisfaction.
The report provides insights into growth behaviors, cost-cutting and margin protection strategies, and business priorities and confidence for the year ahead.
