Majority of British retailers have no Brexit plans

New research has revealed that 60 percent of British retailers have made no business plans should a Brexit go ahead in June. According to a survey of 250 British retail decision-makers by Global-e, the cross-border e-commerce specialist, 96 percent of retail sole traders have made no business provisions at all for a potential Brexit.

Among the cross-section of retail businesses surveyed, medium-sized retailers are most prepared for a potential Brexit with over a half (54 percent) saying they have made plans as a business already. This group was also most in favour of a Brexit, with 54 percent saying that they will vote to leave the European Union, compared to 24 percent of respondents in companies with more than 500 employees.

Global-e co-founder and chief marketing officer, Nir Debbi said: “Now is an uncertain and potentially disruptive time for British retailers, particularly those that are operating across European borders. Cross-border commerce is driven by consumers looking for more choice online. Our findings show that even if the British public chooses to leave the EU, retailers are confident that the positive upward trend will continue.

“The important thing for retailers today, is, therefore, to prepare their operations in the short term to tackle the complexities that may incur due to the Brexit decision and the potential trade agreements changes, and continue long term plans to take advantage of rapid growth in cross-border e-commerce.”

The research found that 53 percent of UK retail decision makers polled said that a Brexit will make the economy weaker and importing goods from overseas will become more expensive, compared to 24 percent who said they think it will make the economy stronger. While 42 percent of UK retail decision makers said that they think consumers are likely to reduce spending, with 52 percent thinking that prices in UK stores are likely to increase, however, 24 percent don’t believe that there will be any impact on consumer prices in the UK.

If the UK does decide to exit, 67 percent of those surveys stated that they are confident that their business will continue to flourish internationally. When asked about cross-border sales to EU countries, 38 percent of retailers believe that selling to the EU will become more complex, yet a further 26 percent aren’t expecting any impact at all.

Debbi added: “Our research shows that although the majority of retailers believe that a Brexit will result in a weaker economy (including weaker Pound sterling Vs. Euro), they aren’t making preparations to tackle the cross-border selling complexity that almost 40 percent of them believe will incur following it.

“The EU remains a huge sales opportunity, with cross-border sales in Europe set to hit 40 billion euros by 2018 according to Forrester. With the right preparation for both scenarios, technology and processes in place, retailers can continue to see sales grow and conversion rates improve whether the UK is in or out of the European Union.”