Linnworks Unveils 2025 Retail Resilience Report as Retailers Invest in Growth Opportunities Despite Rising Costs and Economic Uncertainties

New data acknowledges challenges and offers actionable strategies for U.S. and U.K. retailers

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Linnworks, the leading Connected CommerceOps platform, today unveils 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 ecommerce 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: 44% 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 whilst 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.

For retailers navigating economic challenges, Linnworks is hosting the Retail Resilience Virtual Event on October 2, 2025. This online event will bring together industry leaders and retail executives to share actionable strategies for overcoming today’s economic pressures. Attendees will gain practical insights to build resilience and drive success in uncertain times. Sessions will explore topics such as enhancing operational efficiency through automation, expanding into global markets, and fostering customer retention and loyalty.

About Linnworks

Linnworks is a Connected CommerceOps platform that gives online retailers the power to connect, automate, and scale their e-commerce operations from a single source of truth. Our solution brings three core attributes to the retailer: connectivity to a diverse number of marketplaces, automation to traditionally time-consuming e-commerce processes, and a centralized platform to manage listings, inventory, orders, and shipments.